


A New Year's Surprise

by HumanJukebox



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: (yes I know - don't judge me), F/F, Family, Fluff, Humor, New Year's Eve, Sarcasm, Some Emotioning, Special mentions to Tyson and Felix haha, We are talking about Charity Dingle here, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25594516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HumanJukebox/pseuds/HumanJukebox
Summary: After a failed Christmas meet-up, and to thank his mum for all she's done in the past few years; for changing her bad habits, growing more open, and being there for him, Noah comes up with a plan to surprise her.
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 64
Kudos: 149





	1. December 29th

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with this idea back in early November, but life and many writer's blocks got in the way (and it's still not completely done yet). I just really wanted to post the first chapter today, so here it is.
> 
> This was just supposed to be one long one-shot that turned into five chapters... 
> 
> The chapters will get longer by the chapter. 
> 
> Notes:   
> 1) Charity and Vanessa broke up about four years ago  
> 2) Something is mentioned in a scene about something Paddy did and I wrote it way before it aired on TV - So basically, I was here first :P  
> 3) Prepare for a lot of family fluff between certain characters
> 
> Special thanks to my beta, who's awesome.
> 
> Anyways, I'll stop ranting. Hope you enjoy :)

**A New Year's Surprise**

**Chapter One: December 29th**

Charity is leaning on the bar with her elbows as she stares down at her phone, a fond look on her face and a soft, happy smile gracing her lips.

"Texting  _ Lover Girl _ again?” Chas interrupts the little happy bubble Charity had found herself in as she walks behind her towards the till. “It’s great you and Vanessa are talking again, but you do know you're actually supposed to do some work, right?" 

Charity simply rolls her eyes but doesn't move from the position she's in, opting to ignore Chas like she’d been doing all afternoon. She lets out a chuckle at an incoming message from Vanessa.

"Oi! Come on, Charity!" Chas shouts as she makes her way back to one of the tables.

"Fine." Charity lets out a sigh and stands straight. She quickly sends a reply before placing her phone in her back pocket and moving towards the pumps to refill Jimmy's glass. 

"Since when have you been in contact with Vanessa again? Thought you two had broken up years ago…" Jimmy mumbles, having overheard Chas.

Charity shoots him a glare. "Since none of your business."

"I was only asking." Jimmy holds his hands up in the air. "She did leave the village pretty quickly once you were done, can't really see why she—"

"You might wanna think before continuing," Charity growls at him as she slams the pint glass on the bar in front of him. 

Jimmy looks up with wide eyes. "Oh, n-no I wasn't, I-I mean… I didn't… I'll just go sit over there and be quiet."

He picks up his pint and moves towards the table he pointed at. He takes a big gulp once he sits down and stares down at the tabletop.

Charity continues to glare in his direction; the happy bubble now well and truly popped with that reminder.

It had been so stupid. The argument that had started the fight that ended her and Vanessa's relationship four years ago. Tension had been building up between them for months, and then it all just came crashing down after some silly disagreement.

Charity knows she shouldn't have let it get that far, but she and Vanessa were both equally stubborn and well, communication hadn't really been a thing between them anymore at that point.

There hasn't been a day when she didn't regret what happened though. What she did, and what she didn't do. What she  _ should've _ done. What she didn't say, and mostly what she  _ did _ say.

Snarking and hurting people with sharp words were always her go-to when feeling cornered. Charity knew exactly which things to say to get under someone's skin, to get a reaction. And that was exactly what had happened. 

But it hadn't all been on her. Vanessa was equally to blame. She had said some hurtful, but mostly truthful, things as well. She gave as good as she got. 

And they'd talked about it at length when they had gotten back in touch again a couple months ago. The thought of their reconnection puts a smile back on Charity's face. It had been so out of the blue. 

She had hoped to see Vanessa again some day; had hoped to run into her in Hotten or some place else, to maybe have a talk and try to work things out. But that dream shattered once she found out Vanessa had moved to London. 

However, one day, almost four years later, and on an online dating site of all places, Vanessa had stumbled upon her dating profile and had sent her a message. It was a little weird at first, talking to each other after years apart, but it soon felt like the old days; like how it had been when they'd started dating.

They started making jokes with each other again, mostly at the expense of family members or telling a story about what had happened at work. Then they'd had a right old laugh about the fact that they both only joined the dating app because their families had forced them to.

Messaging had turned into exchanging phone numbers so they could simply text one another. And a few weeks later they had their first phone call. Charity smiles as she thinks back at the first time she heard Vanessa's voice again. 

She had missed that sound so much. Just that soft  _ 'hello' _ had her feeling at ease again. It was kind of ridiculous, how easily Vanessa’s voice could make her feel calm again.

"Oh, for God’s sake, Charity…" Chas lets out a long sigh. "You know what, just go change the barrel and go do a stock check for New Year's, at least then you'll actually do something without getting in my way."

Charity looks up, confusion filling her face before she simply shrugs her shoulders. Anything is better than having to deal with Chas' comments and angry looks, plus now she'll be able to text Vanessa without any interruption. 

"Fine by me."

She turns to walk out of the bar and takes her phone out of her back pocket as she makes her way towards the cellar, not paying any attention to Chas' grumbling as she opens the message thread she has with Vanessa.

XOX

Noah walks into the pub, he looks down at his phone for a quick moment before looking up again and making his way towards the bar. Confusion fills his face when he doesn’t see his mum standing behind it. 

Instead he sees Chas making her way out of the back and beelining towards him with a smile on her face when she spots him. “Hey Noah. What can I get ya?”

“Nothing, ta. Is mum not on today?” 

Chas rolls her eyes. “She is. I had to send her down to the cellar because all she did was stare down at that phone of hers. It’s like it’s glued to her hands these days.”

“Oh, okay.” Noah nods his head before looking down at his phone again, tapping furiously at his screen. 

Chas lets out a sigh when she realizes that Noah has stopped listening to her and is staring down at his phone instead. “The apple really did not fall far from the tree.”

She shakes her head and makes her way over towards a punter who’d just sat down on a stool at the bar. 

Noah continues typing his message and quickly hits send before he can backtrack on his idea.

_ I wanna surprise mum for New Years. I got a plan, you in? _

He waits patiently for a reply before typing out his idea, hoping that he’ll get a positive reaction so they can surprise his mum, because she really deserves it after these past few years.

XOX

Charity lets out a chuckle at an incoming text as she sits down on the chair in the cellar. Vanessa had been telling her about a client that had brought in her two hamsters who had gotten stuck together. Apparently _ Munch _ and  _ Chunk  _ had both eaten a magnet and were magnetically stuck to one another. 

_ Well at least the names make sense this time! Remember that rat? What was it again? Oh yeah, Augustus!  _ Charity replies back.

A smile forms on her face when she remembers the conversation they’d had afterwards and the dazed expression on Vanessa’s face when she’d stepped closer to her and had pulled on her stethoscope to bring her closer to her. 

Charity had only come over to ask if Vanessa was going to stop by later, but when she’d stepped closer and saw the reaction  _ that _ already got her, she just couldn’t resist tugging her towards her. After that time, and especially when she'd done it again later, it sort of became their  _ thing _ . 

Her phone buzzing in her hand pulls her from her memories.

_ He was a chinchilla, Charity. Not a rat  _

Charity lets out a chuckle, almost able to hear the exact tone she’d said it with all those years ago. Not being able to resist a joke, she quickly starts to type a message. 

_ Oh yeah. Wait,  _ was _? Oh, poor Augustus. You didn’t follow through on my suggestion on going into taxidermy right?? Though he’d make a lovely decoration _

_ Of course not! You’re horrible! _

The reply was almost immediate, which means that either Vanessa is on a break or the sudden stream of patients has finally slowed. Charity still finds it ridiculous that Vanessa is working. 

They’re in that weird period of days between Christmas and New Years; why would people rush to the vet with their pets in those days? She gets opening up for an emergency, but Vanessa is doing a regular shift today.

Her phone buzzes again in her hand and she looks down at the message, the smile forming on her lips and the fluttering feeling in her stomach an immediate reaction. 

_ I’m on break, can I call? _

Charity doesn’t reply. She simply presses the phone icon and lifts her phone towards her ear, her heart beating a bit faster when she hears the first beep. The second beep is cut off by a soft, but slightly breathy voice. 

_ “Hey.” _

“Hey yourself.” The grin in her voice must be noticeable because Vanessa lets out a breathy chuckle. She rolls her eyes at herself but feels her mouth stretch into a smile. 

It never ceases to amaze her how easy things are with Vanessa. Like smiling just from hearing her voice. Charity feels like a love-struck teenager, even though she never really experienced that when she was younger, but it does feel exactly the same when she’d started dating Vanessa. 

XOX

After having tried to explain his idea through lengthy text messages and getting the positive and enthusiastic replies he’d hoped for, Noah is now trying to form a plan on how to distract his mum on New Year’s Eve and for it to be believable. 

Of course she’ll be behind the bar for most of the day, which will hopefully distract her enough, but he still likes to have a few back-up plans. He hopes his mum won’t be too mad at him, at  _ them _ , when she realizes what they did. 

An excited little body dressed in pink clothes and with long brown hair suddenly comes crashing into his legs, breaking his train of thought. “No-No!” 

Noah smiles as he crouches down to pick up the happy four-year-old. “Hey Evie! You’re getting so big.”

Eve smiles up at him and nods her head enthusiastically. “Uh-huh. No-No?”

“Yes?”

“I miss-ed you!” Eve tells him with a serious look on her face while wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“I missed you too!” Noah replies with a chuckle and hugs her tightly. With him attending university, it had been a couple months since they’d last seen each other, which in four-year-old terms felt more like years, of course. 

“Eve?! Eve?” a voice shouts, and a flustered Paddy suddenly rushes inside. 

Chas narrows her eyes at the scene in front of her as she walks back into the pub after having checked the loos. Paddy’s face is red and there’s a nervous and worried look in his eyes. Eve is staring wide-eyed at her daddy while staying wrapped in Noah’s arms.

“You can’t just walk away from daddy,” Paddy says to Eve, letting out a breath of relief before his eyes widen again when he notices Chas stalking towards him with her hands on her hips.

“Did you lose her again, Paddy?” She asks him and this time Noah widens his eyes as he looks down at Eve in his arms, staring back at him like butter wouldn’t melt.

“I-she, sh-she’s just—” Paddy starts to stutter out in that nervous way he always does when he might be in some kind of trouble. And with the current look on Chas’ face, he seems to be in big trouble.

Sensing a potential argument brewing between the pair, Noah nods his head towards the back. “We’re... gonna go get some juices.”

Chas gives him a curt nod, keeping her eyes narrowed at a very anxious-looking Paddy, who is now pushing his glasses up with a shaky finger. Noah quickly turns away from them with Eve safely tucked in his arms and walks around the bar towards the back.

As he passes the cellar, he hears a familiar voice through the open door. It’s his mum’s. He stops and takes a step closer, trying to listen to her. The light tone in her voice and the chuckle that flows up the stairs makes him smile. 

There’s only one person that makes his mum speak in that soft tone. After their break-up—and even after Vanessa had moved away—his mum had always continued to speak in that light way when the conversation had been about Vanessa.

Some things just never change.

A smirk grows on his face as he gets an idea. Lowering his voice he whispers to Eve, “What d’you think? Should we go scare aunty Charity?”

The big grin and widened eyes tell him enough but Eve still nods her head excitedly at him. He’s always loved to scare his mum, the reaction is just too hilarious for him to stop doing it. However, his mum has smacked his head or arm more times than he can count afterwards, so he just hopes Eve makes a good buffer for that not to happen this time. 

Noah carefully starts to walk down the stairs, placing his finger against his lips to wordlessly tell Eve that they can’t make any noises. He listens in as Charity starts to end the call with who now must obviously be Vanessa. 

“Yeah, I know. But are you sure you have to go back to work? Alright. Fine, go save some furry creatures. Ew, no, who said anything about furry cost—Okay!” Charity’s tone goes from weirded out back to that soft voice as she finally ends the conversation. “Good luck with work. We’ll talk later, yeah? Okay. Bye.  _ Bye. _ ”

Charity slowly pulls the phone from her ear and holds it in front of her chest. There’s a soft smile on her face and butterflies flutter around in her stomach as she thinks about their conversations. She can’t wait to talk to Vanessa again tonight. 

Noah grins at Eve and softly counts down, “ _ Three. Two. One! _ ”

“BOO!!” Eve and Noah yell at the same time as he jumps out from behind a wall. Charity almost jumps a foot in the air, her phone that she was once clutching flies into the air and she almost loses her footing as she quickly swivels around. 

“Flippin’ heck, Noah!” Charity shouts out and clutches at her chest. She feels like her heart could jump out at any moment. 

Noah and Eve are giggling like mad while Charity tries to take some deep breaths to try and slow down her quickened heartbeat. She narrows her eyes at her son, if Eve wasn’t here right now she’d give him a right wallop. 

Once the three of them have all calmed down, Eve reaches her hands out. Being in the same room with her favourite person means that she now  _ must _ get her cuddles. 

Charity steps forward and grabs her out of Noah’s arms, narrowing her eyes at both of them before looking down at a smiling Eve. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.”

She turns to look at Noah. “And you… You’re gonna pay for that.”

Eve quickly wraps her little hands around Charity’s neck. Charity’s glare towards Noah softens immediately when the four-year-old leans in to kiss her cheek. “Hiya, aunty Cherry.”

“You know how to say my name, why keep calling me Cherry?” Charity asks Eve who simply shrugs her shoulders. 

“I like cherry, an’ I like you.”

A buzzing noise interrupts them and the three of them look around before Charity looks at Noah. “If my phone is broken, you’re buying me a new one.”

“What? Why? You threw it in the air, not me,” Noah protests as he walks towards the armchair and crouches down to pick up his mum’s phone.

“Cos  _ you _ bloody made me jump with your stupid scare schemes,” Charity answers him right back while lifting Eve a little higher on her hip. 

Noah flips the phone over, breathing a sigh of relief that the screen didn’t crack before standing up again. “Well, if anyone is to blame, it’d still be you, since you taught me how to scheme an’ all.”

“You…” Charity once again narrows her eyes at him and grasps her phone out of his hands as soon as he gets close enough. “You’re lucky there’s no damage. And you’re even luckier that I’m holding little miss thing.”

Eve decides to take that moment to lay her head on Charity’s shoulder, lifting her thumb up to her mouth to suckle on. And even though she’s a little too old to still be doing it, Charity just lets her. 

She ignores Noah’s huffing and eye-rolling, and quickly checks the message. A smile forms on her face when she sees that it’s from Vanessa. Noah immediately notices it because just like the soft tone of his mum’s voice, her face gets all lovey-dovey-like when there’s anything related to Vanessa going on.

“So, how’s Ness doing then?” He simply asks as he stuffs his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. 

Charity looks at him in confusion but decides to just humour him. “She’s good. Busy at work though.”

Noah scrunches his face up. “At this time of year, that not a bit weird?”

“That’s exactly what I said!” 

Noah’s eyes suddenly light up again, this might be the perfect opportunity to bring it up again. “Speaking of this time of year. I know she was supposed to come for Christmas but then Johnny got sick, but have you asked her if she’s got plans for New Year’s yet? I bet Moses would love to see them.”

The unspoken  _ ‘And so would I’ _ hangs between them. Noah doesn’t have to say it out loud because they both know that his mum and Moses weren’t the only two looking forward to seeing Vanessa and Johnny again.

“I-uh…” Charity bites her cheek. “I haven’t.”

Noah sends her a look. “Why not? Come on, it’s the 29th already.”

“I know. I do know how to read a calendar, thank you very much,” Charity harshly whispers back, mindful of the now fast asleep Eve she’s cradling. “Sorry. I just, I tried to ask but then I chickened out, didn’t I.”

“Why?”

“Cos she might say no. And I don’t want to get my hopes up in case she declines. Or cancels, again.”

Noah watches as his mum’s body tenses up at just the idea of Vanessa saying no—even if it’s just to a silly question about spending New Year’s Eve with them. His mum has never dealt greatly with rejection, but especially not when it came from someone special. 

“She might say yes,” he offers, his voice soft. “But, if she does say no, you’ll still have a whole new year to meet up or something. There’ll be plenty of opportunities.”

Charity lets out a long breath. Her son’s right, it wouldn’t be that big a deal if Vanessa said no. But then again, she had really looked forward to finally seeing her and Johnny again at Christmas and when that had gotten canceled… She had just felt… discouraged. And sad. 

She’d worked herself up for days only to get an apologetic text on Christmas Eve telling her that Johnny had gotten sick and was running a high fever and that they weren’t able to make it. The disappointment she felt was still very present. 

Charity just wanted things to go smoothly. It had been a long time since she’d seen the both of them and she missed them so much. Phone calls and text messages just didn’t do. 

“Mum?”

“Hm, what?” Charity shakes her head and looks over at a concerned Noah. “Sorry, babe. What did you say?”

Noah shakes his head, having seen that his mum seemed to be struggling with something internally. “Doesn’t matter. Should we go upstairs?”

“Yeah,” Charity answers after a beat. “Sure. Maybe Chas won’t mind if I just keep holding this sleeping beauty, considering it’s her sprout.”

Noah lets out a chuckle as they make their way towards the stairs. His mum would do anything to not work when Chas is in a mood. “You can’t hide behind a kid, you know.”

“Watch me try.”


	2. December 30th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of an insight of Charity's relationship with the boys. I have a soft spot for her and the kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the only chapter that doesn't feature Vanessa much
> 
> Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think :)

**Chapter Two: December 30th**

Charity is staring down at her phone, again. It feels as if the message and the stupid send button are mocking her. She bites the inside of her cheek before shaking her head and deleting the message. 

Taking a deep breath, she starts to type again. It’s just a simple question. But why is it so difficult for her to type and send it?

_I have a question, about New Year’s…_

No. Charity deletes it and starts typing yet again. She’d been doing this all morning. Typing and deleting. Changing one word in the sentence. Changing two. It just never felt right. Or good enough. 

She was really turning this into a much bigger thing than was necessary. She should've just asked it last night, when they were talking on the phone. But Vanessa had sounded so exhausted, and Charity had been so nervous, that she’d used the excuse of Vanessa getting some well-needed rest as a quick escape.

It wasn’t completely an excuse, she truly did want Vanessa to get enough sleep, but it was such an easy cop-out. And she’s kinda regretting it today. Not only is she still fretting about how to ask her, she also hadn’t managed to get any sleep herself because she kept tossing and turning in bed from anxiety and overthinking everything. 

“Ugh. Why is this so bloody difficult?!” Charity grunts out at herself, thankful that she’s sat in her car alone. But also not that thankful, because it means there’s not a lot of time left before Moses comes barreling towards her car, and she really wants to have sent _something_ to Vanessa before that happens.

She starts tapping at the screen again, knowing the next message will just have to do because she can hear Ross’s car turning into the carpark they agreed to meet at.

_Do you have plans for NYE? If not, would you maybe want to spend it with me and my lot?_

At almost the exact moment that she presses ‘send’, there’s an excited rattle of knocks on the window of her door that makes Charity jump in her seat. She quickly locks her phone and drops it in her bag that’s on the passenger seat. 

Charity grins as she opens the door and is immediately greeted by a tight hug from Moses. The quick, unexpected hug gives her no chance to even attempt to get out of her car first.

“Hey baba,” she whispers against his head as she hugs him back.

“Hi mummy. I missed you!” Moses whispers back. It makes her chuckle and she pulls back a little, keeping her hands around his body for a moment longer. 

“You’ve only been gone for a few days, silly.” 

“Mmm,” Moses hums back before shrugging his shoulders. “Still missed ya.”

“I missed you too,” Charity replies and presses a kiss against his head. “Where’s your dad?”

Moses leans away and points to his left. “There.” 

Charity looks up and sees Ross standing there with Moses’ usual sleepover bag in one hand and a bigger bag in his other hand—it looks to be holding some of the toys and clothes Moses had gotten for Christmas from Ross and Rebecca. 

After nodding her head to Ross, he starts walking over to them. Even though they rarely saw eye-to-eye when Moses was little, they both have a lot of respect for each other now and will let the other have a moment with Moses before coming over and starting a conversation.

“Hi Charity,” Ross greets before rattling off what he needs to say. “The Mister here wanted to bring some of his toys back to play with and show off. Don’t worry, nothing makes loud noises or anything.”

Charity rolls her eyes while Moses starts to dig into the bag with toys, pulling out a stuffed dinosaur and pressing it into her face. “Look! This is a Brontosaurus! He’s so soft.”

Charity carefully takes it in her hands while Moses turns around and starts digging into the bag again. Ross fails to try and hide the amusement from showing on his face. 

“And this is a Try-Sarah-tops,” Moses slowly sounds out. 

“A what now?” Charity asks him with wide eyes and this time Ross doesn’t hide his loud snort and laugh. 

“A Try-Sarah-tops. I said it right, didn’t I, dad?” Moses asks as he looks up at Ross who is trying hard to conceal his laughter in case Moses takes offense to it. 

“You did, bud.” Ross nods his head while Moses grins at the both of them before taking the Brontosaurus out of Charity’s hands and replacing it with the other dino. 

Charity turns the stuffed animal in her hands, staring at the horny looking things on its nose and on the back of its neck. While Moses is busy opening the back door of the car, Ross leans in closer and points at the label of the stuffed animal. 

_‘Triceratops’_ it says and Charity lets out a laugh. Right. 

“There are a few Lego building sets in the bag too. As well as some socks and sweaters that he wanted to show off to you,” Ross informs her and she simply nods her head while Moses starts to get settled in the back. 

Ross moves over towards the back and places the bags inside. He then leans over and gives Moses a tight hug. “Right mate. I’m off. See you next week, yeah?”

Moses nods his head and kisses Ross on the lips. Ross leans back up and holds his hand on the door. “I love you.”

“Love ya too, daddy,” Moses replies and waves at him. Ross waves back and closes the door.

He then leans down ‘til he’s level with Charity’s open car window. “Same time and place as usual Friday?”

“Unless I get stuck at work, I’ll be here at two,” Charity answers him and Ross nods his head before standing up. He waves one last time at Moses before turning around and getting into his car. 

Charity starts the car and presses the electronic button to close the window. She slowly backs out of the parking spot before driving towards the exit. She looks up in the rearview mirror and smiles at the grin on Moses’ face. 

“Had a good time, baba?” she asks and he nods his head excitedly.

“Uh-huh. We had lots of hot cocoa, and then lots of food. Bex made a turkey, or well I think she did. And—” 

Charity smiles as Moses starts to rattle on about his stay at Ross’. About what they’d done and the toys he’d gotten. His excitement is still as endearing as always and she has completely forgotten about the text she’d sent and the anxiety it had caused her as she listens to Moses. 

XOX

Noah’s phone buzzes on the coffee table in front of him. He pauses the game he’s been playing on the PlayStation before leaning forward and picking up his phone. After unlocking his phone, he opens the message. A smile forms on his face as he reads it.

_Plan’s in motion. I do feel bad for lying though…_

Step two completed. 

Noah rereads the message and his smile falls a little. Though he and his mum used to have a really strenuous relationship—they’re so alike they’re bound to bump heads with each other—it has been a long time since they’d kept secrets from one another. 

The past few years had been really different. Special, even. They’d turned over a new leaf. After his mum had broken down from everything that had happened, they’d had numerous honest and open conversations with each other. 

She wanted to change her ways, _needed_ to. Pushing people she loves away was taking its toll on her. Vanessa leaving was the catalyst that tipped her over the edge. She couldn’t be like that anymore. She didn’t _want_ to be like that.

Usually when his mum said these things—that she would change and be better—it meant nothing. She would try and be overbearing for a day or two and then she’d be back to her old behaviour again. But this time she was really and truly trying to change. 

And seeing his mum try so hard, seeing her fail and feel bad about it but then continuously try again, made Noah realize that she’d meant it this time. So he started helping her. Started by actively calling her out when she fell back into old patterns. Started helping by being more lenient and trying to understand where she was coming from.

His mum had had a tough life. Was on her own for most of it, having only herself to rely on. Having to lie and hide her true self to get by. She just didn’t know any different. But she was trying. And she loved him, unconditionally. And Noah loved her. 

But lying, that was something they had promised not to do anymore. They would be honest with each other from that point on. About everything. And that had been the biggest change. No lying, and no keeping things— _feelings_ —hidden. 

It had been way easier to be honest with her after their conversation, to his surprise. Before, the lies would easily fall from his lips, and from his mum’s too. But not anymore. 

He too was finding it difficult to lie to his mum now. Looking at his phone again, Noah starts to type. He hits ‘send’ and waits for a reply.

_I know… I don’t like it either, but it’s for a good cause_

The reply comes a lot quicker than he expected, it’s almost immediate. 

_That’s true, I’m actually really excited about it! I just hope I won’t blurt it out to her_

The smile is back on his face again. He cannot wait to see his mum’s face. It will definitely be worth the inevitable smack around his head for lying to her though.

Noah once again starts typing a message back. The guilt he was feeling a moment ago is replaced by a shot of excitement that rushes through his veins at the thought of his mum’s reaction. 

_You better not! All my hard work will be ruined if you do!_

_Your hard work?! What about my hard work?_

Noah grins at the message. He knows they both have something at stake here, but he can’t help but to tease a little more, just for fun. 

_Hey, it was my plan, so it’ll be_ my _downfall if_ you _ruin it_

_Oi! I take offence to that_

They go back and forth for a while—poking fun at each other—before going over some more details. Noah’s excitement is growing by the minute. He just hopes that neither of them accidentally spoils it. 

XOX

“Open the door! Open the door!” Moses sing-yells at Charity. He’s wiggling excitedly in his seat as Charity turns the car off. 

“Calm your boots,” Charity tells him as she shakes her head at his antics. “Let me get out of the car first.”

“Okidoki,” Moses says as he nods his head before pressing his face against the window. 

Charity shakes her head once again. _This boy…_

She opens her door and walks around the car to open up the door for her son, who rushes out immediately and runs up the path towards the front door and starts to bang his fists on the door.

“Did Ross feed him bloody sugarcubes for lunch?!” Charity whispers to herself as she leans into the car to grab her son's bags. She hears the front door open and an excited shout of _‘Noah!’_ greets her ears. 

Charity turns around just in time to see Noah pick Moses up from the ground. It brings a proud smile to her face. She loves it when her boys are so excited to see each other—even though it had only been a few days since they last saw each other too.

Closing the car door and moving back towards the front, she leans in to grab her own bag and closes the door. She locks the car before walking up the pathway. “Come on, babes. Let’s get inside, you two are letting the cold in.”

Once inside, Charity places the bags down in the hallway and closes the door behind her. She rolls her eyes when she sees her boys sitting on the couch already, both with a controller in their hands. 

“Seriously?” she exclaims. Noah shrugs his shoulders at her while Moses completely ignores her. 

Charity shakes her head as she hangs up her own coat before bending down to pick up Moses’ coat that he’d simply dropped down on the floor in a rush to get to the couch. Always a one-track mind, that boy. 

She makes her way over to the kitchen to get the three of them some drinks. She playfully tousles their hair as she walks past, which gets her a sharp look from Noah in return. 

“Mum,” he whines out before moving his hand up to smooth his hair back out. 

While she pours some juice into three glasses, Noah makes sure that Moses is busy with his game before turning around to look at his mum. Even though he knows the answer already, he still asks the question. 

“So… Did you finally ask Vanessa? Y’know, about New Year’s?” 

Charity freezes for a moment. Moses had talked so much in the car that she’d completely forgotten about the message she’d sent. She focuses on placing the plastic juice bottle back into the fridge before turning back and answering. 

“Uh, yeah. I actually sent her a text earlier. Even forgot about it because blabbermouth over there couldn’t stop talking,” Charity tells him, leaning forward to hand Noah two of the glasses. 

He places them on the coffee table before turning back again. He stares at his mum for a moment, taking in the way she’s worrying her lower lip and fidgeting with her hands. She’s nervous. 

“And?” he inquires. 

“Well I don’t know, do I?! I haven’t got X-ray vision like that Spidey-man!” Charity exclaims. A guilty look immediately forms on her face after her outburst. But before she can even apologize, Noah’s already shaking his head with a smile. 

“We both know you meant Superman there.” Noah gives her a pointed look and Charity lets out a small chuckle. 

She takes a deep breath before admitting, “I’m actually a little scared to check if she’s replied yet.” 

“Mum…” Noah draws out and stands up. He walks over to her and stands next to her, both of them now leaning back against the counter. “It’s just a question. The world isn’t gonna end if Ness says no. And yeah, I know you’d love to see her rather sooner than later, but you know there’s no doubt that eventually you _will_ see her.”

Charity tilts her head a little and nods. Noah’s right. 

“Besides, if she’s daft enough to text with you _all day long_ …” Noah adds in a playfully annoyed tone, earning him an eye-roll from his mum. “And was daft enough to forgive you and has told you she’d love to meet up with you, then you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

Charity nods her head again before letting out a chuckle as she shakes her head. “When did you become smart?”

Noah rolls his eyes. “I’ve always been smart, you just didn’t notice.”

Charity’s smile drops and she shoots Noah an apologetic smile. “I’m really so—”

“If you say the s-word,” he starts, a playful warning tone in his voice. “I _will_ tickle you ‘til you pee your pants.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Charity says with wide eyes. There’s a glint in Noah’s eyes that makes her nervous and she takes a step back. 

Noah knows his mum won’t open the message until she’s either forced to or has driven herself—and _him_ —so up the walls with worry that he’ll probably snap at her or check her phone himself. So, he takes this opportunity to put her on the spot.

There is no point in wasting time anyways. His mum will just dig herself an emotional hole, and he really doesn’t want his mum to drive herself— _him_ —crazy.

Noah starts to grin and he raises an eyebrow. “So, as I see it now, you’ve got two choices.”

He starts taking a step forward, watching with amusement how his mum takes another step backwards. “Either you go and check if you’ve got a message…”

Charity opens her mouth to say something—probably to object because she’s still too nervous and anxious to deal with it—but before she can even try, Noah’s holding his hands out towards her, wiggling his fingers in a silent threat.

“Or, I’ll tickle you.” 

Charity narrows her eyes at him. “You know what, you’ve become really mean.”

Noah keeps grinning. “No, I just know you and how you deal with things.”

Charity keeps staring at him with narrowed eyes before rolling her eyes at him and letting out a sigh. “You know, these promises we made, particularly you calling me out on my _stuff_ … It’s really annoying me right now.”

“I know.” Noah beams with pride and Charity simply shakes her head at him. 

She still doesn’t move a muscle though and it’s only when Noah takes another step towards her, wiggling those fingers again, that she starts to move. She really does not enjoy being tickled and her son knows it.

“Okay. Fine.” Charity lets out another long breath as she slowly turns around and starts walking towards the front door. She leans down to grab her bag and turns back around again to place it onto the dining table. 

She fishes out her phone—because somehow it always ends up on the bottom—and stares at it for a moment, before unlocking it and seeing that she has two unread messages from Vanessa. 

Charity can feel her heart start to race again, an unsteady and loud pounding against her ribs. _This is all just ridiculous. So what if Vanessa says no? Noah was right, they would eventually meet up. Why is she worrying so much about this? It’s just stupid and silly… And…_

Oh. 

Charity swallows as she reads the texts, and again. And then one more time to be certain. Her face falls as the words finally register in her head. 

Vanessa’s answer is no. 

It shouldn’t feel this disappointing. Or hurt this much. A feeling settles in the pit of her stomach. A feeling of rejection. Which is dumb. Because she shouldn’t have been surprised that Vanessa already has plans. 

She had left it until two days before NYE to send her a text. Even if Vanessa _had_ wanted to come, she’d have barely any time to make arrangements with work. Or for travelling here. Or for where she’d even sleep or if she’d drive back. 

Noah watches as a range of emotions appear and disappear on his mum’s face. The look of hope that had been there just before she read the text and then turned into a look of disappointment. The feeling of rejection he could see in the way she curled into herself. It hit him harder than he thought it would. He’s suddenly regretting his idea. 

He hadn’t really thought about how painful his mum looking like this would be. He’d seen it lots of times before, but not in the past three years. He’s not even sure if the surprise will get the reaction he’s hoping for. 

But… there’s no turning back now though. All he can do now is be there for her and make the surprise as amazing as possible. 

XOX

After having read that Vanessa—and Johnny—wouldn’t be able to celebrate New Year’s with them, Charity had felt down and sad. She tried to hide it as much as possible from Moses, even though that kid wouldn’t notice anything unless she took the controller out of his hands.

But she hadn’t missed the looks Noah had been giving her all afternoon and early into the evening. He kept glancing at her as if he was expecting her to just break down or something. 

_She wasn’t that bad, was she?_ Charity wonders to herself as she walks down the stairs and sits down on the couch after having put Moses to bed. 

Noah is still curled up on the armchair, tapping furiously at his phone screen. However, he lifts his head up when he sees his mum drop herself down on the couch with a loud sigh. 

He clears his throat and then inclines his head in the direction of the coffee table. Charity raises an eyebrow at him when she sees the glass of red wine. 

“What’s this?” 

Noah shrugs his shoulders. “Thought you might like a glass. I know Vanessa’s answer wasn’t what you hoped for. You looked proper devastated.”

Charity nods her head and leans forward to grab the glass. She takes a gulp of her wine before leaning back again, glass still in her hands. 

“I was. I am.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I mean, really, I should’ve expected it. It was a fifty-fifty chance, I just got my hopes up a little too much. Besides, I kinda left it a little late, I should’ve asked as soon as she canceled Christmas.”

“She didn’t _cancel_ Christmas,” Noah points out. “They wanted to come. Johnny just got ill.”

Charity lets her head fall backwards and closes her eyes. “Yeah, I know. I’m just wallowing.”

“Well, what if… you text her and invite her for your birthday? It’s a few weeks from now and—” Noah tries. He really doesn’t like seeing his mum so put down, even if it’s his own doing this time.

“Babe,” Charity interrupts, looking up for a moment. “I know you mean well, but I just don’t wanna get my hopes up again this soon. Ness and I will just keep texting and calling for now. Even if it’s not really what I want.”

Noah nods his head and watches as his mum leans her head back and closes her eyes again. It’s silent in the living room for a while, both of them caught up in their own thoughts. 

“We could go visit her?” Noah then offers but the snort his mum lets out says enough.

“Right. As if Chas is gonna give me time off right now,” Charity mumbles out as she opens her eyes yet again. “She’s still in her first trimester, chucking up here, there and everywhere. That’s just not happening.”

Noah scrunches his face up. “Do you really have to put it like that? It was just a suggestion.”

“You’re studying biology! How does _that_ gross you out?” Charity exclaims before taking another sip from her wine. It’s really a good one that Noah chose. 

“Whatever,” he mumbles out. Charity lets out an amused chuckle, before letting her thoughts drift off again.

When Charity seems to zone out, Noah immediately takes notice and starts tapping at his phone before locking it and standing up. He needs to distract his mum before she goes down a dangerous rabbit hole that he’s too tired to deal with right now.

He moves towards the PlayStation and turns it on. He then grabs two controllers and sits down next to his mum. 

“Come on. You said you were gonna ‘beat me next time round’ last week,” Noah states as he pokes his mum with the controller. “Well, ‘next time’ is now.”

“What?” Charity looks confused for a moment before narrowing her eyes at the challenging look on her son’s face. 

“Or are you chicken?” Noah teases further. 

“Oh, it’s on,” Charity says as she puts her glass down on the table and pulls the controller out of Noah’s hand. 

“Like Donkey Kong!” they shout at the same time before jumping up as a black and white feline suddenly comes rushing out from underneath a curtain. 

“Oi! Felix! You mad cat,” Charity exclaims while Noah lets out a chuckle. “I completely forgot that daft cat was here.”

“How?” Noah wonders aloud as Felix jumps up on the couch and cuddles into Charity’s side. “He’s always wherever you are. Point in case.”

“Whatever. So, are we gonna play or what?”

“Bring it on.”


	3. December 31st (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment of the surprise is getting closer. Charity is thankfully still unaware while she gets some prep work done in the pub. Noah's getting anxious; especially when a certain person almost spoils said surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer!
> 
> Vanessa and Johnny are both back in this chapter
> 
> Also, meet Tyson, Charity's nemisis 😄😂
> 
> Enjoy the read!

**Chapter Three: December 31st (Part One)**

With Noah’s distraction having worked a treat last night, Charity feels more relaxed about today. She went to bed in a better mood—especially after she won a few rounds against her son, even though she knew he had let her win—and woke up in a reasonably good mood as well.

She slept in until nine since she didn't have to be at the pub until ten. Then she had breakfast with her sons, sorted the cat out, and sent Ryan a 'Happy Birthday' message, before getting dressed to sort out the pub for tonight. 

Chas had made them a list, and Charity and the others were under strict orders to do as the list—or General Chas, as Charity had reverted to calling her—said. There was cleaning that needed to be done, decoration that needed to be hung, and sarcastic quips to be made about Marlon and his OCD while he prepared some of the foods for later. 

The latter wasn’t on the list of course, but Charity could never pass up the opportunity to tease the lanky cook. Plus, with a sick and moody Chas watching her every move, she needed to find the fun in things. 

What wasn’t fun however, was the current situation Charity found herself in. Having a tug of war with Chas and Paddy’s idiotic dog was _ not _ something she'd thought she'd be doing today. 

“Let go, you moronic mutt!” she orders through clenched teeth. Tyson only wags his tail excitedly in response.

“You bloody—” Charity starts but is interrupted by Paddy walking into the back room. He stops in his tracks when he sees his dog and Charity both pulling at something.

“Why are you playing with our dog? Thought you didn’t like him. Plus, Chas will kill you if you’re not doing what’s on the lis—” he rushes out, but stops when Charity shoots him such a deadly glare that if it were possible, he’d be dead in a puddle on the floor. 

“Tell this darn dog to let go of my top!” Charity shouts at him and Paddy just stares at her for a moment. “Now would be good! Before he completely destroys it!”

Those words finally get him to move. Or rather, clap his hands as he gives out an order in a gentle tone. “Tyson! Let go!”

_ 'Yeah, that'll really help'  _ Charity thinks to herself and rolls her eyes. ' _ What an idiot…' _

Tyson continues to bite down on the dark blue top, and he even starts to growl from excitement at the ‘game’. 

“Drop it!” Paddy orders again, his voice a little sterner this time. Again, the black labrador doesn’t do anything and continues to tug at the material.

Luckily, at that moment, Noah walks into the room with Moses and stops to stare at the scene in front of him. He quickly catches on to what’s happening and shakes his head.  _ That dog is always causing trouble… even if he's dead cute an' all _

He rolls his eyes at the pathetic display of discipline from Paddy, and makes his way towards the dog. He places one hand under the dog’s head, pressing his index finger and thumb between the back of his jaws to force his mouth open.

The item in his mouth is released and Charity almost stumbles back at the sudden loss of counterforce from the dog. She rights herself and lets out a relieved breath.

“At least one of us is useful!” Charity exclaims with a bite in her tone and sends Paddy another glare. She then gives her son a grateful smile. “Thanks, Noah.”

Noah simply shrugs before walking over towards the couch and plopping down on it, Moses immediately cuddling into his side. He wraps his arm around his younger brother and pulls him closer.

Charity smiles at the two before inspecting her top for holes. Luckily there are none, however, the top is soaked in Tyson’s drool and she makes a face at it. “Well, that’s just great. Guess I’ll need to find a different top to wear for tonight then.”

“No holes though? So, it isn't that bad then,” Paddy says, continuing to scratch Tyson's head. The dog had walked over to him as soon as the 'game' had ended. 

“Besides, that top isn’t really that—Oh,” Paddy stops speaking when he sees Charity glaring at him yet again. 

“You might wanna shut your gob and instead teach that daft dog of yours to stop biting everything!” Charity tells him. “Last week he chewed up Moses’ toy, two weeks ago he got into some plastic, that  _ I _ had to clean up, and the week before that he destroyed one of my  _ very expensive  _ shoes!” 

“He’s a puppy, Charity! It’s just what they do. They bite stuff,” Paddy defends as he continues to pet Tyson.

“You’re the flippin’ owner who’s supposed to teach him not to!” Charity throws back before holding her hands up and slapping them on her thighs in annoyance. “God, you’re hopeless.”

"Who's hopeless and why?" Chas’ voice suddenly sounds from the hall. She'd just come downstairs with Eve in tow when she heard the raised voices.

Paddy and Charity both turn to look at her. Moses is too busy playing a game on his tablet to even notice that Chas and Eve have entered the room, and Noah is entranced with his phone, but he does give Eve a small wave when he sees her.

"That poor excuse of a husband of yours!" Charity exclaims with a bite in her tone, though her face and whole demeanor soften when Eve comes running over to her. 

"Hey, sweets," Charity says in a soft tone as she picks her up and hugs her close. She takes a steadying breath and looks up at Chas, who's staring at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry. It's just that, that daft, annoying dog of yours got hold of my top and decided to chew on it."

Charity takes a moment to glare at the dog, who's still loving the attention he's getting from Paddy. "And that bigger, daft and annoying specimen over there wasn't much help."

"Ha! Specimen. Wait, d'you mean me?" Paddy asks with a confused frown, his attention mostly on his dog rather than on what Charity was saying. 

Charity scrunches her face at him before letting out another long breath. "You know what, it doesn't even matter anymore."

She looks directly at Chas. "If you could teach the men in your life some manners, and just y'know, anything useful, it'd be appreciated. I'm gonna go back to that flaming list of yours."

She nods her head at herself before moving to walk out of the room, turning around once she's in the doorway. "And I'm taking this one with me."

Charity tilts her head towards Eve in her arms, who grins up at her, and walks away without looking back. Chas is momentarily stunned but just shakes it off. Her cousin is known to act weird.

She goes over towards her husband and their dog, asking Paddy about what exactly just happened. 

Noah’s attention is still focused on his phone, but this time it isn't to distract himself and to ignore what's going on around him.

He's just received a message and he’s trying hard to hide his grin. Moses looks up at him questioningly, but Noah simply pulls a face at him to distract him again. 

Moses lets out a giggle and cuddles more into his brother's side while going back to his game.

_ ‘Just a few more hours to go’ _ Noah thinks to himself as he leans his head on top of Moses'.

XOX

Vanessa is standing by the front door of their little apartment, her phone in her hand, as she waits for her son. “Come on, my darling, we need to go. It’s a long drive.”

She sends off a quick message, and can barely hide her smile. She’s really excited, and she knows her son is as well. 

“Coming!” Johnny shouts from the living room. 

He comes rushing out of said room a moment later, his backpack snug on his back. It has all the necessities in it for the car ride; toys, books, his two trusty stuffed animals—Rubble from Paw Patrol, and Shaun, a fluffy black and white sheep—and not to forget, snacks. 

“Ready!” He grins up at his mum, who smiles back at him.

“Are you sure you’ve got everything?” Vanessa asks and Johnny nods his head, before looking up at her with a serious expression on his face. 

“Do  _ you _ have everything?” 

Vanessa pretends to think as she tilts her head. “Hmm… How about we do a check, to be sure?”

She begins to name all the things they need and should have with them. It’s something they always do before going on a long trip. Vanessa asks him if he has everything, then Johnny asks her if she has her things before they do a check together. 

Once they’ve named every item and crossed them off of their mental checklist, they make their way out of the apartment. Vanessa locks the door behind her as Johnny sets off for the lift already. 

The lift ride is quick and Johnny starts to skip towards their car as soon as they’re out of the building. Vanessa unlocks the car and they both get inside. She starts the car and while she types the address into the SatNav, Johnny buckles himself in. 

Vanessa puts her own seatbelt on before pulling out onto the road. Their journey has officially started. 

They’re both silent for a moment, Vanessa concentrating on navigating the car through the busy London traffic, and Johnny looking out of the car window, smiling to himself. 

“Mummy?” he pipes up a few minutes later. 

Vanessa looks up in the rearview mirror for a quick moment. “Yes, darling?”

“I’m really excited to see Charity again. And Moses. And Noah,” he tells her, the smile obvious in his voice. 

Vanessa glances up again and smiles at him. “Me too, love.  _ Me too _ .”

XOX

“I know what you’re up to," a voice suddenly exclaims next to Noah, almost scaring the life out of him. 

He had moved from the back room to help his mum—and Eve—decorate the pub, and was currently putting hats with ‘ _ Happy 2024 _ ’ written on them on the tables. Not the best decision considering the unexpected guest suddenly rocking up next to him.

Noah’s eyes widen at the loud voice and he quickly shushes her, looking over towards the bar to see if his mum has overheard. Luckily, she is still crouching down, too busy sorting through the glasses.

“Oi! Do you have to be so loud?! Mum’s right over there,” he whisper-shouts at her.

Tracy looks over to the bar in confusion until she hears the sound of glasses clinking together. 

“Oh, oops. Sorry.” Tracy at least has the decency to look apologetic. That look is quickly replaced by a huge grin though, and Noah is reminded of the creepy grin that’s always on The Joker’s face.

“Why didn’t you two tell me about your plan?!” she asks him, not noticing how her voice has gone up again in her enthusiasm. And this time, Charity does hear her as she stands up from her crouched position behind the bar.

Charity looks over, confused at seeing Tracy and confused about this talk of a ‘plan’. “What plan? Is there something I should know about? And how did you even come in? Thought the door was locked...”

“Oh, it was open.” Tracy simply shrugs and shoots Charity a smile. 

Charity nods her head after a moment, before shrugging. That’s not really the bit she’s focusing on.

“So... What’s this about a plan?” she asks again, placing the glasses she’d taken out of the crate on top of the bar. She narrows her eyes at them both, curiosity clear in her expression.

Noah’s slightly panicking, but he’s trying hard to act normal. He can feel his neck and hands getting clammy as he struggles to come up with a decent little white lie. 

“Uhm…” Noah draws out. Lying had been a lot easier back when he and his mum didn’t get along, and before they'd made this agreement of no more lies. 

“You see…” Tracy pipes up next to him and gives him a fleeting nervous look. “Uh…”

“It’s a surprise!” Noah suddenly exclaims, scaring Tracy with how shrill it sounds. He clears his throat and nods his head. Tracy quickly copies him with an over-enthusiastic smile on her face.

“It’s something for your birthday,” he quickly adds, hoping his mum will buy the lie. It definitely wasn’t his best but it was all he could come up with. 

Charity immediately pulls a face. “If you’re planning on organizing a surprise birthday party then I’ll make sure I won’t be here. You know I hate them.” 

Noah breathes a sigh of relief, it seems his mum bought it. “Can’t tell you anything. It’s a secret.”

Luckily, before Charity can reply, a small voice pipes up from behind her and interrupts them. “Cherry! Look, b’loons!”

Charity turns around to see Eve walk in with a big inflated balloon tied to each wrist. Every time she moves her arms, the balloons move as well, which is making the four-year-old giggle like mad.

“A few more of those and you’ll fly off,” Charity jokes with wide eyes.

“Like  _ ‘Up’ _ ?” Eve asks, her eyes getting big, and a look of awe on her face. Charity nods her head, which makes the girl grin before she turns around to run out of the bar again. 

“Daddy! Marly! More b’loons, please!” Eve shouts, and they can hear someone—probably Paddy—complain about it. 

The three of them chuckle at what just happened. 

Charity shakes her head with a smile and goes back to sorting out glasses, but she keeps an eye—or well, an  _ ear _ —on the hushed conversation Noah and Tracy are having. She doesn’t believe a word they just said.

However, she can’t pick up much, and she’s quickly distracted again. This time it’s her phone buzzing with an incoming call from Ryan. Smiling, she answers it. “Hey Ry. Happy Birthday!”

Noah breathes out another sigh of relief when he notices that his mum is distracted with a phone call. He still pulls Tracy over to an empty table—that he still needs to put decorations on—to have a word with her. He doesn’t want to risk his mum hearing something, again.

“Oi!” Tracy exclaims and glares at him when they stop next to the table, not liking being manhandled like this, even though Noah had barely wrapped his hand around her arm.

“Would you just keep your voice down?!” Noah glares back at her. “You almost just ruined it all! Ness and I put a lot of hard work into this.”

Tracy looks down and lets out a sigh before looking up. “I’m sorry. I just, I got really excited about Vee coming here. It’s been a while since I saw her and Johnny, so when I got the text…”

Noah nods his head. He understands, he’s been trying hard to keep his own excitement down too. He decides to take pity on Tracy and gives her a little smile.

“It’s okay,” he tells her, but quickly sends her a stern look. “Just as long as you keep quiet about it. Do not tell anyone.”

Tracy nods her head and attempts to do the Scouts Honour salute thing, but it doesn’t even look remotely close. “Promise.”

Noah simply rolls his eyes at her. Tracy doesn’t even seem to care as she starts firing off questions about when they’d come up with the plan, where Vanessa currently is, what time they should be arriving, and more.

Noah barely has time to catch up on the barrage of questions, but he tries his best to answer everything he knows, while keeping his eyes trained on his mum. With every answered question he starts to feel a small wave of relief falling over him from simply filling Tracy in on their plan.

He can feel the enthusiasm radiate off of Tracy and it starts to dawn on him. In just a few hours he’ll see Vanessa and Johnny again after four years of not having seen them—in real life, that is. 

He cannot wait.

XOX

Vanessa turns her car into a parking lot next to a petrol station. They are halfway through their car journey and they both really need a bathroom break.

She also kind of needs to stretch her legs. Her body isn’t used to long car rides anymore because she doesn’t have to go on call-outs that are miles away anymore. Vanessa kind of misses the long drives though, she’s always loved them. 

She quickly finds an empty space and parks the car. After turning the engine off, they both unfasten their seatbelts and Vanessa gets out of the car. She stretches her body before turning to open Johnny's door.

He quickly gets out and waits for her to lock the car. He grabs hold of her hand and they swiftly make their way over to the bathrooms.

Once they are both done, Vanessa decides to buy them both a sandwich and something to drink from the little store next to the petrol station. They'd only been eating snacks and their tummies need something a bit more filling.

After letting Johnny choose what kind of sandwich and drink he wants, and picking something for herself, they head for the check-out and Vanessa pays for their items. They quickly make their way back to the car, the December wind cold against their skin.

Johnny sits back in his seat and Vanessa climbs back behind the wheel. They quickly start eating, not having realised how hungry they both had been. Though she normally dislikes getting crumbs in her car, she could get past it this time. 

It's worth seeing Johnny's happy smile and excitement over them eating in the car. She loves that he still gets excited about the little things, or in this case, the silly things, like eating in the car.

"Mummy?" Johnny asks once he finishes his sandwich. 

Vanessa turns to look at him. "Yes, darling?"

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"Not yet. We still have about two more hours to go," Vanessa says and Johnny makes a face. "I know, sweetheart. I wish we were there already too."

Johnny nods his head before handing Vanessa the empty wrapper. Vanessa grabs her own wrapper and empty cup of coffee and gets out of the car to throw it away.

When she gets back to the car she sees that Johnny's already put his seatbelt back on and is grinning up at her. She shakes her head with a smile and gets in.

After closing her door, Vanessa leans over the console to dig through her bag. She fishes out her phone to check for any messages that she might have received while she’d been driving. 

Once she unlocks her phone, Vanessa sees that there are about six messages from Tracy—at which she rolls her eyes—two from Charity and three from Noah. She opens Noah's first and shakes her head when she reads the text about Tracy almost spoiling the surprise.

Vanessa quickly sends him a reply and an update about their current whereabouts. She then opens Tracy's messages that mostly accuse her and Noah of 'traitorous behaviour' and rolls her eyes again.

_ ‘She can be such a drama queen at times…’ _ She sends her a playfully scolding message back, before finally opening Charity's. She lets out a chuckle at what she reads.

_ I once thought _ you _ were bossy… Chas is on a whole different level right now, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she ordered uniforms for us _

_ Seriously, please help me! _

There’s a photo attached to the second message and Vanessa can’t help but laugh at it. Charity is pulling a face in the photo, attempting to look like she’s being tortured. Her eyes are wide and she’s even written the word ‘Help’ on a barmat that she’s holding up. 

“Why are you laughing, mummy?” Johnny asks her. 

Vanessa turns in her seat and holds her phone up to show Johnny the photo. When he sees it he immediately starts to giggle. “Silly Charity.”

Vanessa smiles. “She’s very silly. Wanna send her a silly picture back?” 

Johnny nods his head and starts pulling silly faces. Vanessa snaps a couple photos and choses the one that looks the craziest. She captions it with  _ ‘On our way to a friend’s house, I think the silliness must be contagious’ _ . 

She types another message to tell Charity that she should get on with her work before Chas really gets mad at her. Vanessa also adds that if she’s got the time, to call her later tonight before twelve. 

She lets out a deep sigh. She hates lying, but it’s all for a good cause. Vanessa just hopes their surprise visit will be enough of an apology, though she wouldn’t mind making it up to Charity if she were still mad about being lied to.

Putting her phone back into her bag again, she sits up straight and puts her seatbelt on. She starts the car and slowly pulls out. 

Just a few hours left. 

XOX

“Look out for the green shell!” Moses shouts at Noah. Noah had already noticed the item coming his way and easily dodges it. 

“Good looking out,” Noah tells him and glances next to him to see Moses beam with a smile before turning back to look at the TV again. He had to hand it to him, Moses had become really good at Mario Kart. 

He quickly looks over at the coffee table where Eve and Leo are quietly colouring. Leo’s completely focussed on his drawing, while Eve occasionally glances up to look at the TV whenever she hears them cheer or moan.

Rhona had come over with April and Leo because she needed to go to an emergency call-out when Noah was almost done decorating. And with at least three slightly hyper kids at the pub, he decided that the best way for the adults to get their jobs done properly, and without any disturbances, was for him—and April, really—to entertain them. 

And to be honest, Noah had also taken this as an opportunity to escape his mum as well. He was getting too nervous around her, and he was scared that he might start blabbing if she’d even so much as looked at him. He just needed to escape her for a little while and collect himself. 

So, Noah told Chas and his mum that he’d take them to the playground for a bit. Eve and Moses had been really happy to be out of the house, even if it was a very chilly afternoon. Leo looked happy as well, and at arrival had immediately made Noah push him on the swings. 

They’d stayed at the playground for almost two hours. Moses had brought his football and he had a kick about with Noah once Leo decided he had been on the swings long enough.

Moses, who was a notoriously messy kid, had of course managed to get his trousers dirty. Luckily, they weren’t the nice trousers he would be wearing for the rest of the evening. So, once they got back to the pub, Charity had taken the two of them home to get changed. 

Then, they’d eaten together before going back over to the pub. Charity had told Moses to bring some of his games along because it would be a long evening. Moses had immediately grabbed his backpack and pushed three of his Lego boxes in it and a few PlayStation games. 

And that’s how Noah found himself playing Mario Kart. 

“You’re first! Again. ‘S not fair.” Moses pouted at him, but Noah could tell that he didn’t really mind it. Moses was happy enough to just play a game, he never really cared if he won or not.

“Hey, you’re fourth! Getting better and better. Reckon one day soon you’ll even beat me,” Noah tells him with a smile, and soon Moses nods his head with a smile on his face. 

“‘Nother game? You choose the track,” Moses tells him and tilts his head towards the TV. 

Noah goes through the different tracks that are available. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket and takes it out. He looks over at Moses. “Just a second.”

He unlocks his phone and reads the message, a smile forming on his face and a nervous fluttering in his stomach. 

_ We’re here! Heading over to Trace’s to get changed and then we’ll be over, see you soon!! _

They’re here. In the village. Just a few houses over. 

“Why’re you smiling like that?” Moses pipes up. 

_ ‘Shoot!’  _ Noah had forgotten how perceptive his little brother is, and how he takes note of almost everything that’s going on around him. There’s a reason they call him  _ Big Ears _ and it’s not just because his ears stick out.

“Uhm, no reason,” Noah fibs with wide eyes. “Someone just sent me a funny text, that’s all.”

“Can I see?” 

“No. It’s not for littluns,” Noah replies and Moses pouts. 

“I’m not that little no more.” Moses crosses his arms in front of his chest. Noah immediately feels bad, so he pulls Moses into his side.

“I’m sorry. You’re right, you’re not  _ that _ little anymore. You’ve grown at least one whole inch,” Noah teases him and playfully tousles his hair. 

“Noah!” Moses giggles out as Noah then starts to tickle him for a moment. “Stop it!”

“Alright, alright. I better had or you’ll pee your pants.” Noah stops for a beat and looks at him with wide eyes. “ _ Again. _ ”

Moses shakes his head. “Nu-uh. That was mum!”

“Sure, sure.” Noah grins at him. They giggle for a moment before Noah looks back down at his phone again. “Let me just reply to this text. Then we’ll do another race before I go hang with mum and Chas for a moment, okay?”

Moses nods and moves to sit back in the comfortable position that he’d been sitting in since they started playing Mario Kart. He grabs his stuffed Triceratops and cuddles it into his chest as he waits. 

Noah quickly types up a message and hits send, before looking back up and choosing a track. He cannot wait to see Vanessa and Johnny again. And he definitely can’t wait to see his mum’s face when she sees them. Or Moses’ for that matter.

XOX

“Oh, I am so happy to see you both again.” Tracy squeezes the eight-year old tightly. Perhaps, a little  _ too _ tightly. 

“Aun-ty T-tracy. C-can’t breathe…” Johnny wheezes out and Tracy immediately lets go.

“I’m sorry! I’m just,” Tracy pauses for a moment before continuing with the biggest grin on her face, “So excited!” 

Johnny lets out a giggle. “I am too!”

The two hug again and Vanessa just continues to smile at them, patiently waiting for her turn. It quickly comes when Johnny lets go of Tracy and she practically pounces on Vanessa. 

“Vee! Oh, I’ve missed you,” Tracy almost shouts in her ear and Vanessa winces at the volume. 

“I missed you too,” Vanessa replies back, at a normal volume, and lets out a chuckle when Tracy tightens her grip.

They break their hug and Tracy looks around them, eyes landing on the garment bag that’s been carefully draped over the kitchen table. “Where’s the rest of your stuff?”

Vanessa looks up at her sheepishly. “I was, kind of, hoping that maybe we’d stay over at Charity’s. Granting she doesn’t, like, hate us for just showing up and surprising her after having lied to her.” 

Tracy’s face softens. “Charity hating you? Or Johnny? Never gonna happen. That woman is still as crazy about you now as she was back then.”

Vanessa can’t help but smile at that. There are excited butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Though she could easily believe that there were other kinds of butterflies flying around there too. 

Her feelings for Charity never once wavered. She thinks that in the time they were separated and had zero contact, they’ve only grown. And they've been growing and growing since the day they started messaging again.

She really can’t wait to see her again.

“Okay. So then, I take it your bags will be staying in the car until then?” Tracy asks when Vanessa fails to reply. It's obvious that her thoughts have drifted off somewhere.

Tracy would bet good money on what—or better yet,  _ who _ —her sister is currently thinking of. Some things just never change. 

“Hello? Earth to Vee.” Tracy waves her hand in front of Vanessa’s face, who immediately snaps out of her thoughts. 

“What?” she asks before looking at the grin on Tracy’s face. “Sorry. Uh, yeah. Can we change here? I really wanna get ready with you, like we used to. Y’know, loud music an’ all.”

“You mean you wanna see Charity as soon as you can.” Tracy raises an eyebrow up at her and Vanessa shakes her head with a laugh. 

“Maybe. Yes.”

“We do,” Johnny suddenly pipes up and glares at them. “So if you would, like, hurry up… I wanna go see Charity!”

Tracy’s eyes widen at Johnny’s attitude and Vanessa simply raises an eyebrow at Johnny, who quickly looks down. He then looks up again with an apologetic look on his face. 

“Sorry mummy. Sorry Aunty Tracy,” he tells them sincerely. “I’m just excited to see Charity. I've been waiting so long.”

Vanessa and Tracy both chuckle when he draws out the word ‘so’ for dramatic purposes. They share a look with each other before moving towards Johnny and wrapping him up in a tight hug. 

“Aahhh!” he screams through a giggle. 

XOX

Just like he’d promised, Noah played another game with Moses before telling the three kids to behave and to shout if Tyson did anything dodgy, and made his way over towards the bar. 

He’s currently sat at a table across from Paddy and Chas, nursing a glass of cola. He has a good view of the entrance and he’s glad that it isn’t busy just yet. There are only a handful of people in the pub, but he knows it’ll be brimming with the rest of the villagers soon. 

His mum comes over to their table after having served Rodney. She leans against the booth that Chas and Paddy are occupying, and Noah smiles to himself.  _ ‘She’s got her back to the entrance, that’s good’ _

His phone buzzes in his pocket and he takes it out. He’d drowned out most of the heated conversation Paddy and Chas were having with one another, so they probably wouldn’t even notice him checking his phone. 

Noah smiles when he reads the message and sends a thumbs up and a grinning emoji back. He looks from the entrance up to his mum and back again, while biting his lower lip. 

Any minute now, Vanessa and Johnny would be walking through that door. 

XOX

Vanessa nervously wipes her hands down the front of her jacket. There’s a smile on her face as she walks down the street towards the Woolpack. She hears Johnny let out a cheer as he takes in the familiar Christmas lighting that lights up the village. 

She’s just a few meters away from seeing Charity, Noah and Moses again. She’s excited but nervous. And she’s very relieved that she and Noah had been able to arrange this surprise without Charity finding out.

Tracy opens the door and waves Johnny and Vanessa in. Vanessa takes in the familiar smell of the pub and smiles. It’s strange, the little things you come to miss when you’ve been away for a while. 

They enter the pub and Vanessa sighs a breath of relief that there aren’t too many people here yet. Her eyes immediately clock on to a very familiar person standing next to one of the booths by the window. 

Johnny grabs her hand and tugs on it. She looks over at Noah, who sends her a big smile, and somehow it manages to go unnoticed by the trio he’s sat with. 

Vanessa sends him a smile back, accompanied with a wink, before looking down at Johnny. He’s almost literally buzzing from excitement. And the grin he shoots up at her is almost blinding. 

She glances around for a moment to look at the handful of other villagers, but her attention is quickly drawn back to the person who can always make her heart beat a bit faster when Charity lets out a loud cackle. And even now, Vanessa’s heart seems to almost leap out of her chest. Just from seeing her from afar. 

Johnny impatiently tugs at her hand again and she smiles down at him. He’s silently asking her a question and she nods her head at him. 

They take a few steps closer before Johnny reaches forward to tug at Charity’s shirt.

_ “Surprise!”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment - if you want to - of your fave line, scene etc
> 
> Or just send some emoji's haha


	4. December 31st (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment is here! Lots of family fluff as they reunite and just hang out while Charity works — because y'know, bills gotta be paid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this one doesn't disappoint
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely comments I've received so far, they mean a lot
> 
> This chapter and the next — and sadly final — chapter are both over 10k words
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

**Chapter Four: December 31st (Part Two)**

_ "Surprise!"  _

Charity stands frozen for a moment. She recognizes that voice, has heard it a few times over the phone in the last couple of months. But it couldn't be him, right? It couldn't be  _ them _ …

She glances over at Chas and Paddy in the booth next to where she's standing. They both have surprised looks on their faces, but their smiles make it slightly more real. Charity then glances at Noah, and the unmistakable grin on his face tells her what she needs to know.

He nods his head towards the people standing behind her, and she slowly,  _ very _ slowly, begins to turn around. Almost as if she’s scared that they might be gone when she faces them; that this is just some cruel figment of her imagination. 

Charity had been waiting for this moment for so long now, and she couldn’t handle it if it was all just a joke or a dream. When she’s finally fully turned around, she sees two very familiar faces staring up at her, wearing matching smiles.

She lets out a soft gasp, taking a wobbly step backwards.  _ ‘They’re really here…’ _

“Hi Charity,” Johnny says and grins up at her. 

Charity is still frozen in place. She just can’t wrap her head around it. They aren’t supposed to be here, they were going to one of Vanessa’s friends' places, weren’t they?

Chas sticks her hand out and pinches Charity’s thigh closest to her. 

“Ow!” Charity lets out and immediately rubs the spot while glaring at Chas. “What’d you do that for?!”

“To make sure you know this is real,” Chas starts off, the smile still fully on her face. And just like Noah had done, Chas nods her head towards Vanessa and Johnny. “Maybe you should go and give them a hug. Instead of just, you know, standing here like a statue.”

“ _ Right, _ ” Charity whispers to herself with a nod. “Right, I should…”

She shakes her head and it’s only when Johnny—bless his heart—has grown tired of waiting for Charity to finally move, and steps forward, that Charity starts to react. 

Johnny immediately wraps his hands around her waist and squeezes her tight, placing his head gently against her stomach. Charity wraps her own arms around him and pulls him in tighter. 

“I missed you,” Johnny mumbles against her and Charity lets out a watery laugh before quickly closing her eyes. 

“I missed you too, Johnnybobs,” Charity breathes out. “So much.” 

Vanessa can’t help but get teary-eyed as well. The bond between Charity and her son had always been special, and she’d felt absolutely awful when it got broken because of the split and then the move. 

“I can’t believe how big you’ve gotten,” Charity comments, still holding tightly onto Johnny. She lifts her head and looks at Vanessa with a cheeky smile. “You’re almost as tall as your mummy now. Then again, that wouldn’t take much.”

Vanessa sends her a playfully offended look. “Oi! I’m already getting teased and I haven’t even gotten a hug. Maybe I should just go.”

“No!” Charity quickly exclaims as she slowly lets go of Johnny. She takes a hesitant step closer to Vanessa while Johnny rushes off to give Noah a hug. 

Charity looks and acts almost shy as she gazes at Vanessa. Eventually she whispers out a soft,  _ “Hi.” _

_ “Hi,”  _ Vanessa answers back just as quietly. 

They stare at each other for a moment, just trying to take each other’s presence in. But when Vanessa sends her  _ that _ smile—the shy one she reserves only for her—Charity finally starts moving and rushes forward to pull Vanessa into a tight hug. 

_ “Oh, Ness…” _ Charity breathes softly into her neck.  _ “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” _

Vanessa is trying hard to keep her tears at bay, but the emotional tone in Charity’s voice still makes one slip out.  _ “I think I do. Oh, I’ve missed you so much.” _

It seems as if the world around them has stopped for a moment. All they can hear, all they can smell, all they can _ feel _ is each other. It feels so good, so  _ right _ , to be back in each other’s arms again. 

It’s like they’ve finally come home again. 

They’re completely unaware of the people around them, who have been staring at them during the reunion but are now slowly going back to their own conversations. Including Paddy and Chas. 

Even Johnny has started to chat animatedly to Noah, who’s a little surprised at how talkative the once shy and quiet boy now is.

Vanessa and Charity break their hug slowly, but keep their hands in touch with the other’s body. Charity’s hands are loosely placed on Vanessa’s waist, while Vanessa’s hands rest on Charity’s lower arms. 

Charity doesn't really know what to say, which is a decidedly rare occurrence. This surprise has totally knocked her for six. She simply continues to stare at Vanessa.

Vanessa for her part can’t keep her eyes off of Charity either. She had always been beautiful, but this look, this is something else. The pictures she sent her didn’t do her shorter hairdo any justice. Charity’s new look is just absolutely stunning.

And so she can’t help but reach one hand up and weave it through Charity’s short curly hair. Charity immediately leans into the touch, keeping her eyes locked onto Vanessa’s face. 

“I’m really loving the hair,” Vanessa comments and plays with a lock. “It looks amazing. It really suits you.”

There’s a slight hint of a blush appearing on Charity’s cheeks, which makes Vanessa smirk a little. Charity hardly ever blushed, and Vanessa still relishes it when it happens.

“What are you doing here?” Charity finally finds her voice. She shakes her head at herself for how she’d just blurted that out. “I didn’t mean it like that, I just… I thought…”

Vanessa looks away for a moment before looking up at her again. “Yeah… Uhm, about that… I kind of, maybe, have been lying to you. Just a little, but, well…”

She shrugs her shoulders a little while Charity frowns at her. Before either of them can say anything, Noah clears his throat to grab their attention. He had quietly stood up after they’d broken their hug and hadn’t wanted to interrupt, but now he feels that this is the perfect moment to speak up.

Charity turns around but still keeps one hand on Vanessa’s back as she looks at her son. 

“Vanessa isn’t the only one who lied,” Noah starts and nervously fidgets with his hands. “I… It was my idea. I knew how disappointed you were when they couldn’t come, and truthfully, I was too… And so, I kind of, came up with the idea to surprise you… So, uhm,  _ surprise _ ?”

Noah looks uncertain for a moment. He nervously glances up at his mum, who’s just staring at him, and then to Vanessa, who’s sending him a supportive smile, before looking back at his mum again. 

“I’m sorry for lying. I just… You were just so sad, and I knew this would cheer you up, and I needed to thank you as well, and—” 

Noah’s rambling is suddenly halted by his mum pulling him into a tight hug. He lets out a relieved breath and can feel himself start to relax in his mum’s arms. A smile forms on his face when he hears his mum whisper a  _ ‘Thank you’ _ and an  _ ‘I love you’ _ into his ear. 

_ “I love you too,” _ he whispers back and feels his mum squeeze him before letting go. He and his mum share a look with one another before Vanessa clears her throat. 

“Does this mean I can finally give you a hug now?” she asks Noah, who grins and moves forward to wrap his arms around her. 

“Uhm, Ness?” he asks her as he pulls back a little, looking down at her. “Did you shrink or summat?”

He lets out a squeak when he feels a pinch to his side. 

“Oi! Seriously, you and your mum, always with the short jokes.”

“MUMMY!” 

They’re interrupted by a mighty anguished scream, quickly followed by loud footsteps and a moment later a teary-faced Moses appears from behind the bar. “M-my Try-s-sarah-tops…” 

He holds his hand that’s clutching the Triceratops up to his mum. It looks as if it’s been mangled by a bear. There’s stuffing poking out of it in numerous places, some obvious bite marks and it just doesn’t look like the dinosaur it’s supposed to look like. 

“What happened?” Charity replies, still a little shocked from the sudden interruption. 

“Tyson g-got it,” Moses mumbles out tearfully. 

_ ‘Of course that bloody dog got it’  _ Charity thinks to herself. She could see red, actually she  _ is _ seeing red. She looks over towards Paddy and gives him her fiercest glare. Paddy actually jumps away from it and hits his elbow against the wall next to him.

“Mummy…” Moses’ sad voice grabs her attention again, but just as she’s about to move towards him, a small body interrupts her. 

Moses' sad face turns up into a huge grin when he sees that Johnny’s suddenly standing right there in front of him. Momentarily forgetting his torn-to-shreds dinosaur, he rushes forward and the two share a hug that looks like their lives depend on it. 

“Johnny!” he exclaims with a smile. 

“Moses!” Johnny shouts back. 

They all collectively let out a soft  _ ‘aw’  _ at the sweet moment they’re witnessing as Moses and Johnny almost cling to one another. It seems as if they’re having their own little conversation, so Charity shoots Vanessa a quick look and notes that the shorter blonde is struggling to hold back her tears. 

She reaches out to squeeze her upper arm and Vanessa sends her a teary-eyed smile. Then she looks at Noah, who’s standing next to her and sends him a wink. Charity mouths another  _ ‘Thank you’ _ to him and he simply nods his head, a slight blush on his cheeks. 

The boys break their hug and then Moses looks around. When his eyes land on Vanessa, the grin returns and he dashes forward, colliding into her body a second later and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. 

“Ness! I missed you,” Moses tells her as Vanessa wraps her own arms around him. 

“I missed you too, wigglebum.” 

Moses lifts his head at the nickname Vanessa had given him all those years ago and smiles up at her. His eyes suddenly turn sad again when he remembers his dinosaur. 

He pulls back a little and lifts it up for Vanessa to see. “Tyson tore it up. I don’t think I like Tyson anymore.”

Vanessa's confused as to who this 'Tyson' is and questioningly looks up at Charity, who mouths that it’s Chas and Paddy’s puppy, and she nods her head in understanding. 

“I’m sure Tyson didn’t mean to do that,” Vanessa tries to soothe him and rubs his back with her hand. 

“But now it’s ripped into pieces,” Moses mumbles out. His lower lip trembles as he looks at the dinosaur. “I only just got it a few days ago. Daddy gave me it.”

Vanessa pulls him into her side to try and comfort him. Charity moves closer and crouches down in front of her son. She gently places her hand on his arm, widening her eyes for a moment. 

“D’you remember what Ness here does?” Charity asks him and Vanessa sends her a confused look, wondering where she’s going with this. Charity decides to ignore her for the moment.

Moses nods his head. “She makes animals feel better.”

Vanessa shakes her head with a smile, she can sense where this is heading now. 

“Well, this is an animal as well.” Charity chances a quick glance up at her and sends her a wink before looking back at Moses again. “So, I’m pretty sure that with her stitching skills, she can make your dino better again.”

“Really?” Moses looks up at Vanessa with the most hopeful look she’s ever seen him pull. “You can fix him?”

Vanessa doesn’t have the heart to say ‘no’, and taking a closer look at the dino, she can see that the damage actually isn’t all that bad. “I think I can.”

Moses beams up at her and immediately turns and pulls on Vanessa’s arm to tug her along. Vanessa shoots Chas and Paddy an apologetic look before Moses suddenly stops and reaches out to pull Johnny along with him as well. 

They simply nod their heads at her and wave her off. Charity stands up and smiles as Moses leads Vanessa and Johnny towards the back. She goes to follow them, but Paddy speaks up.

“Should I come with?” he questions. “You know, to make sure Tyson—”

The anger Charity felt earlier is back again and she stares—well, glares—at Paddy again. “No. You’re just gonna baby that dog. It has done enough damage for now.”

“It? You mean  _ him _ ,” Paddy replies but swallows harshly when Charity narrows her eyes at him, daring him to say anything else. “R-right. On you go.”

Charity stares him down for a moment before swiftly turning back around and making her way into the backroom. She doesn’t really take note of the kids or Vanessa currently standing in the room as she immediately charges towards the kitchen table. 

“Where’s that flippin’ dog?” she asks. “Tyson!”

The dog simply lifts his head up and looks at her from his hiding place underneath the table.

“Crate,” Charity orders him and he tilts his head at her, staring at her with those big brown puppy dog eyes. “Oh, don’t you dare look at me like that. You know what you did.”

Charity’s not in the mood to chase him around, so she’s glad when a moment later he gets up and makes his way to his crate that's placed next to the TV table. 

“Stop biting and eating things that aren’t yours,” she tells him in a stern but gentle voice while she holds the crate door. Vanessa watches on with slight amusement. 

“How old is he?” she asks once Charity has locked the door to his crate after placing some chew toys inside with him, as well as a small bone type thing that’s especially for puppies to nibble on.

Charity gives her a confused look as she stands next to the crate. “About five months. Why?”

Vanessa nods her head. “He’s teething, that’s why he’s biting things.”

“Well, he can go and teethe somewhere else,” Charity exclaims and hears Johnny and Eve let out quiet giggles. She smiles at them before continuing, although not after sending an already half-asleep Tyson a glare, “That thing has destroyed enough of our stuff.”

This time it’s Vanessa that lets out a chuckle. “ _ He _ ’s just a puppy, Charity.”

“He’s a demon.”

“And you’re dramatic.”

“Aw, you still remember,” Charity says with a soft voice and playfully places her hand over her heart. Vanessa shakes her head but still smiles at her.

“Ness?” Moses asks as he tugs on Vanessa’s arm. “Can you fix him now?”

“I will, sweetheart. I just need a needle and some thread first,” Vanessa replies. The last part is directed at Charity who nods her head, but before Charity can even reply or move, a small voice pipes up.

“Aunty Cherry?” Eve asks. She’d been watching their interaction for a moment but is still confused as to who these two new people currently standing in her living room are. 

Charity feels her cheeks start to warm a little at her nickname, and when she looks up and sees Vanessa’s raised eyebrow, she only feels them growing warmer. So, she ignores her and pointedly looks at Eve, silently hoping that the four-year-old isn’t about to embarrass her even more. 

“Yeah, Miss Evie?”

“Who’s that?” Eve points to the two strangers. 

“Well, that’s Johnny,” Charity starts and points at him, before pointing to the other grown-up in the room. “And that’s Vanessa, Johnny’s mum.”

Eve frowns a little before a smile shows up on her face, her eyes shining with recognition. Charity dreads whatever it is that’s about to come spilling out of her goddaughter’s mouth.

“Like princess Vanessa?” she asks while Charity’s eyes widen and her face starts to heat up again. “Like your stories?”

Charity doesn’t know where to look. Her cheeks are definitely red right now and she can feel Vanessa staring at her. She chances a quick glance at her and she regrets it immediately because the huge grin—and just the pure amusement on her face—make it obvious that she’s in for some teasing and questioning later.

She needs to get out of the room, like,  _ now _ . With a confirmative hum and a nod, she points up to the ceiling. “I’m… uhm, gonna go get some thread and needles. I mean a needle and some threads.”

Charity shakes her head and quickly rushes out of the room while softly murmuring to herself,  _ “And maybe poke myself with a needle…” _

Vanessa keeps staring at the place Charity was standing just a moment ago and keeps grinning. She is definitely looking forward to hearing more about those stories about this ‘Princess Vanessa’ Charity has apparently been telling. 

She finally removes her coat and hangs it over one of the kitchen chairs before doing the same with Johnny's coat and his backpack. She crouches down to talk to Leo while they wait for Charity to come back downstairs again… if she still dares to show herself, that is.

XOX

After having carefully fixed the dinosaur, Vanessa was rewarded with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek from Moses. Charity had been trying her best to ignore and avoid her by sitting down at the coffee table and talking to Eve and Leo about their drawings.

But after Vanessa was done stitching, she'd glanced over just in time to see their hug and slowly stood up to make her way over to her. Charity had thanked Vanessa for helping to fix a potential crisis by making a joke about it. 

Vanessa simply rolled her eyes at her but the smile on her face was fond, like she was recalling a particular memory. Charity’s smile had softened as well, but they were both unaware that her words had caused them both to feel the fluttering of butterflies in their stomachs.

Eventually, Charity broke the slightly lingering silence by asking if she could get Vanessa something to drink. When Vanessa’s reply was  _ ‘A coffee would be nice’ _ , she had raised an eyebrow up at her but had turned around to go get her a cup of coffee nonetheless.

Vanessa is currently sipping her hot drink while they're both leaning back against the counter and silently watching the kids playing and chatting in the living room. Johnny and Moses are behaving like it hasn’t been four years since they’d last seen each other.

It makes them both smile, to know that nothing has changed between their sons, who had been like two peas in a pod as soon as they had gotten to know each other all those years ago.

“So, uhm...” Vanessa softly starts before taking another sip of her coffee. She really needed that, to be honest. The caffeine boost would definitely help keep her awake until later. 

Charity turns her head to look at her. She’s still having a hard time comprehending that Vanessa, and Johnny, are here. That she can actually see them and talk to them face-to-face. That she can even touch them and hug them if she wants to.

“Hm?”

Vanessa shyly looks up at her. “Have I told you that you look  _ really _ good? I mean, I’ve been thinking it since I saw you standing in the pub, but… Yeah.”

She shrugs her shoulders and takes another glance at Charity’s outfit. It’s a simple combination of black jeans and a dark green blouse—with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows—but somehow Charity manages to make it look amazing.

Charity grins at her. “You haven’t, but thank you.”

She then slowly looks Vanessa up and down in her black curve-hugging dress with long sleeves, before saying, “I don’t think you look good, however.”

Vanessa frowns up at her. She feels slightly offended. No, she feels very offended but before she can open her mouth, Charity starts speaking again. 

“You look absolutely stunning.” There’s a smirk on her lips and a glint in her eyes. 

“You…” Vanessa breathes out with a shake of her head while she feels her cheeks heat up. Charity looks awfully proud of herself and Vanessa can’t help but let out a chuckle. “Smooth.”

“Thank you.” Charity playfully pretends to wipe invisible dust off her shoulder.

They stare at each other for a moment but both break eye-contact when Eve lets out a loud giggle that’s quickly followed by the boys giggling as well.

“So, that’s Eve, huh?” Vanessa nods her head towards her. “She’s gotten so big. She was tiny when I last saw her.”

“Yeah…” Charity breathes out. “And you can definitely tell whose kid she is. That kid can chat the ears off of your head, I’ll tell ya. Luckily without all that blabbing and stuttering her daft dad does.”

“She’s a good mix of Paddy and Chas then,” Vanessa utters and Charity nods her head in agreement. 

Eve looks a lot like Chas, with her beautiful dark brown hair, and she even has a little bit of her fiery temperament, but the rest is mostly Paddy. The kid can talk for hours, and while that can get annoying at times—mostly because Charity can never say no to her, even when she’s in a hurry—she much prefers listening to Eve than to Paddy. 

Vanessa suddenly turns towards her, this time with a glint in  _ her _ eyes, and Charity is not liking it. 

“So…” she draws out and Charity narrows her eyes at her. “Let’s talk about Aunty Cherry, and her stories about a certain ‘ _ Princess Vanessa’ _ .”

Charity shakes her head vehemently. “Oh, no. We are not going to talk about that.”

“Aw, come on.” Vanessa pouts at her but Charity keeps shaking her head. 

“Nope. Not gonna happen.” Charity starts to move. “What’s that? You wanna go to the bar? Of course, let’s go.”

“Oi!” Vanessa calls out while quickly rinsing her empty cup and following Charity into the pub. “We  _ will _ be discussing this, Miss Dingle.”

“No, we won’t, Miss Woodfield,” Charity fires back as Vanessa stops next to her.

Chas, who’s back behind the bar, sends the pair a confused look before looking over at Noah, who’s now sat on one of the barstools at the bar. He mirrors Chas' confused look.

“Uh… What’s going on?” Noah asks as he looks from Vanessa to his mum and back again.

“Charity was just about to explain the mm—” A hand is suddenly covering Vanessa’s mouth and Charity sends her a narrowed look, daring her to continue. There’s something else in her eyes that begs her to stop, so Vanessa decides to drop it... for now.

She does playfully lick Charity’s hand instead, though. Charity quickly pulls her hand off of her mouth with a grossed out look on her face. “Ew! Did you really just lick me?!”

Vanessa shrugs. “Don’t cover people’s mouths if you don’t expect to be licked.”

Charity raises an eyebrow up at her before wiggling them suggestively. She opens her mouth but Vanessa quickly interjects.

“Don’t. Whatever filthy thought just crossed your mind, I don’t want to know.”

“And we don’t want to either,” Chas quickly adds and Charity rolls her eyes at her. 

“I can’t help that Vanessa’s behaving like a child, licking people’s hands.” Charity tilts her head at her. “Like, how old are you? You know you don’t have to act your height, right?”

Vanessa playfully pushes her before walking around the bar to sit next to Noah. 

“At least I’m not ancient like you,” is all Vanessa retorts but it makes Noah and Chas chuckle. 

“So I get the age jokes, huh?”

Vanessa shrugs while Charity goes to pull two pints for Billy and Dawn. “‘S only fair since you always make fun of my height.”

“I can’t help that you grew up with the gnomes.” 

Vanessa simply rolls her eyes and turns to chat to Noah while Charity starts serving the group of people that just entered the pub. She glances up at her after a moment and smiles when she catches Charity glancing back at her. 

She takes a quick look around the pub while listening to Noah talk about one of his classes. She smiles at the familiar faces that catch her attention and lets out a happy sigh. It feels really good to be back here again.

She's really missed all of this. 

XOX

The pub’s now filled with villagers and old friends that Vanessa hasn’t seen or talked to since she left four years ago. A lot of them had been surprised to see her here and couldn’t resist a short chat with her to catch up. 

Some of them were being extremely nosey. Brenda and Rodney definitely hadn’t changed in that respect. But Vanessa was happy to fill them in on her job and life in London, and was also happy to listen to them talk about all the things that had been going on in the village. 

Of course Brenda couldn’t resist making a few digs at Charity’s expense, but Vanessa simply kept her comments to herself. She knew everything Charity had done and how she’d acted after she had left. 

Charity had been really open in sharing how awful she’d behaved after their break-up when they’d gotten back in contact again. Vanessa was really proud of her for recognizing her faults and that she’d made a commitment to do better and had stuck to it. 

During many of these short catch-ups with familiar faces, Vanessa couldn’t resist looking over at Charity. Watching her work had always been fascinating to her—even if it was watching Charity pull a pint for the nth time. There was just something about it. 

But then again, it never really mattered what Charity was doing, Vanessa was always on the lookout for her. And now that she was finally able to do that again, she couldn’t stop. It was worth the grinning looks from Chas and Noah that were sent her way when they caught her staring, again. 

She also knew Charity was doing the exact same thing. Not only from the chuckles and teasing words from Noah and Chas, which led to Charity loudly complaining about it, but also because she could feel Charity’s eyes on her. 

Vanessa's been talking with Rhona for a good thirty minutes now when her best friend suddenly raises an eyebrow up at her.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Rhona starts as she picks up her glass of wine. “Just your lover staring at you.  _ Again. _ ”

Vanessa quickly turns around to look at the bar where Charity is indeed looking in her direction. Charity sends her a soft smile—which she can’t help but return—and a wink before returning to a punter. 

She turns back to face Rhona and rolls her eyes at the annoying grin on her face. “Not my lover.”

Her voice has a sad undertone to it but Rhona luckily doesn’t comment on it. She does raise her eyebrow again. “Well, if she isn’t yet, then she will be soon. Again.”

Vanessa frowns at her. “What d’you mean?”

Rhona rolls her eyes. “I mean, you two have been glancing at each other every chance you get. It’s like nothing’s changed and you’re still as in love as you were when you first got together.”

“You think so?” Vanessa scrunches her face up in thought. Rhona nods and takes a sip of her drink.

“Only a matter of time with you two. Just depends on who gets their act together first.”

Vanessa tries to ignore the fluttering in her stomach at Rhona’s words as she glances back at Charity again. It doesn’t take long before Charity looks up at her and sends her that soft smile again before continuing her conversation with Chas and Noah.

Rhona lets out a loud laugh and this time Vanessa narrows her eyes at her. “Oh, just shut up, you.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

Vanessa pointedly ignores her best friend—and her own racing heartbeat at just the thought of possibly getting back with Charity again; a thought she's had a couple times before—and quickly changes the subject by asking about the new man in Rhona’s life. 

Rhona luckily takes the bait and soon she’s telling stories about Connor and how they met. 

XOX

“And? All caught up, babe?” Charity asks when she sees Vanessa make her way over towards the little corner of the bar that she, Noah and Chas have been occupying. “Everyone fill you in on the scandalous stories about, well, everyone?”

Vanessa takes a seat next to Noah, near the end of the bar, and raises an eyebrow at Charity. “The only scandalous stories involve you. And it seems you’ve been somewhat tame these past few years.”

“Pfft.” Charity pulls a face. “Me? Tame? They wish. They're just too afraid to share." 

“Right, you’re proper scary.” Noah rolls his eyes and takes a sip from his drink.

“I’ll remember that the next time you stand in front of me, quaking in your shoes, confessing something you've done.” Charity raises an eyebrow at him. "I can definitely be scary."

“You're really not  _ that _ scary, but whatever helps you sleep at night.” Noah grins up at her and Charity playfully ruffles his hair. “Mu-um.”

Chas and Vanessa share a bemused look when Jimmy leans against the bar and signals to Chas for a refill. Chas goes over to him while Vanessa looks around the pub. 

“Hey, how come I haven’t seen Ryan yet?” Vanessa wonders out loud before looking at Charity. “Is he not coming tonight? Thought you’d be celebrating his birthday like usual.”

Noah snorts next to her and Charity sends him a glare. Vanessa frowns in confusion.

“Ryan’s with his mates,” Charity fills her in before worrying her lower lip with her teeth—an action that doesn’t go unnoticed by Vanessa. “He uh, kinda forbade me to throw him a party…”

“Why?”

“Cos she’s dead embarrassing,” Noah butts in. “And cos something  _ always _ goes wrong. Planning still isn’t her strong suit.”

“Alright,” Charity sharply says, a little offended. “I got it the first time.”

Vanessa continues to stare at them in confusion, wondering what she’s missing. Charity notices the look and whispers,  _ “I’ll tell you later.” _

"Now, speaking of me being embarrassing..." Charity raises an eyebrow at Noah, who starts to feel nervous when a teasing glint forms in her eyes. "How are things with your  _ girlfriend _ ?"

Noah's face turns a bright red colour. He's regretting what he said now. He lets out a groan and looks down at his glass. "Not my girlfriend."

"Yet," Charity adds with an amused grin. 

He looks up at his mum and glares at her. Vanessa turns towards him and when he looks up at her, he sees the same amused look on her face. Her smile is kinder and softer than his mum's, however, and the teasing glint in her eyes isn't as obvious either.

"Oh, right!" Vanessa exclaims. "What was her name again? Ellie?"

Charity smiles as she watches her son start to blush even more at the name. He's been crushing on this girl, Eloise—Ellie, since he started Uni, and she loves teasing him about it. 

She looks over at Vanessa and sees recognition written all over her face. She furrows her eyebrows while Noah starts to mumble out a reply to them.

"Hold on a minute there, babe." Charity holds her hand up to Noah while keeping her eyes on Vanessa, who looks questioningly at her. "How do you know about Ellie?"

"Uhm..." Vanessa's eyes widen a little, before she sheepishly looks up at her. "Maybe because Noah and I might've been texting for a little while?"

Charity raises an eyebrow and glances between the two. "And how long is a little while?"

"Uh…" Noah and Vanessa share a look.

"Since May…" Charity nods her head and abruptly stops when Vanessa finishes off with, "… last year."

"You what?" Charity straightens up. "That's longer than we've been in contact again. Why didn't you tell me? Either of you."

They both send her an apologetic look but it's Noah who speaks up. "I didn't... I didn't tell you cos I didn't want it to hurt you in case you were still not over everything. Or that you might get mad at me for contacting Ness."

Charity smiles sadly at him and places her hand on his. "I wouldn't have gotten mad at you, Noah. I know Ness was, _is_ , a big part of your life too. I get it."

"I'm sorry for breaking our promise and not telling you." 

"Again." Charity sends him a smile to let him know that it's okay, that she gets it.

After Noah and Vanessa explain how they got in contact again, Charity understands it even more. She also knows why Noah's been doing so well at college now; Vanessa has been helping him.

Not wanting to get soppy and emotional in a pub full of people, Charity does what she does best: making jokes at others' expenses, making sarcastic quips, and mostly, teasing her son again.

It's even better when Vanessa starts to join in. Noah is horrified but loving it at the same time. It feels like before; like when they would both gang up on him. Vanessa is still kind and occasionally stands up for him, getting into funny little squabbles with his mum, just like she used to do.

Nothing has really changed between them. And Noah is glad he made this happen—even if he has to endure playful and embarrassing remarks about his crush for the rest of the night.

XOX

Charity takes advantage of a slow moment in the pub to check up on the kids in the back room. When she enters the room she's met with silence. Leo’s quietly colouring at the table, Johnny and Moses are both conked out on the couch, while Eve has fallen asleep on Tyson's dirty pillow.

She finds it gross beyond words so she carefully picks her up and places her on the carpet flooring with some couch pillows. She grabs some blankets from the hall and drapes them over the three of them, placing a kiss on each of their heads.

She smiles when she sees the boys with their stuffed animals and has to swallow down her emotions when she sees the black and white sheep in Johnny's hands. Charity can't believe he still has that daft thing.

She had bought him that stuffed animal at one of their last outings together. They'd gone to a petting zoo with the boys and Johnny had immediately fallen in love with the sheep and goats—she didn't have to wonder where he'd gotten that from.

When she'd walked into the little store by the exit and saw it, she knew she had to buy it for him. Johnny hadn't let go of his sheep for days. He had carried it with him everywhere. And apparently he still carries it with him now.

Leo looks on curiously from his place at the coffee table. Charity wipes at a tear that escaped her eye without her realizing and sends him a smile when she notices him staring.

"Hey, Leo. Wanna come with me and go find mummy and daddy?" Charity asks him and signs a few of the words she'd spoken out loud. Leo nods his head and stands up.

Charity waits for him as he grabs two of his finished drawings and slowly walks over to her. He takes hold of her hand and together they walk into the pub. 

Rhona is standing next to Vanessa and Noah, and when Leo spots his mum, he rushes over to her. Charity makes her way over towards the other side of the bar to serve and talk to Belle for a moment.

"Hey, sweetheart," Rhona greets him and signs. "What have you got there?"

"Drawings," Leo answers and then points at them. "For Mummy. For Daddy."

"Wow! They look amazing," Rhona replies and looks up at Vanessa who nods her head before looking back at her son again. "Let's go find daddy and show off this amazing art."

Rhona looks at Vanessa again. "Talk again later?"

Vanessa nods her head. "Yep."

Rhona walks off with Leo to find Marlon. Vanessa turns back around and takes a sip of her pint. Charity is just finishing her conversation with Belle when Chas grabs their attention. 

She'd been watching her cousin interact with Vanessa since she'd arrived and couldn't help but notice how happy they both looked. She hasn't really had time to talk with Vanessa about Charity yet, so she takes advantage of the opportunity.

"I'm so glad that you're back in her life," Chas starts and then points at Charity, who's walking over to them. "This one was  _ so _ miserable when you left. Kept snapping at everyone."

"Excuse you," Charity speaks up and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "I was  _ not  _ miserable."

Chas and Noah exchange a look and then direct the look at Charity, who lets out a sigh. "Okay, fine. Maybe I was a little bit."

Vanessa hides her amused smile behind her pint glass. She knows exactly how Charity behaved and felt.

"A little bit?!" Chas exclaims and turns to face Charity. "You were moody, sulky, snappy. Downright rude at times… And definitely a lot sarkier than usual. Am I leaving something out?"

"Lonely," Noah pipes up, a grin on his face. Now it's his turn to embarrass his mum.

"What? Was not," Charity argues back, though it doesn't come out as sure as she'd like it to.

"Really? So what's the deal with Felix then?" Noah asks her and raises his eyebrow at her. 

Vanessa frowns. She thought Charity had told her everything, but apparently not. 

"Felix? Have I missed something?" Vanessa asks as she looks between the three of them before staring at Charity. "Who's Felix?"

"Uhm… He's uh, my cat?"

Well, Vanessa didn't expect that, but she's amused at the questioning tone in Charity's voice. "Are you asking me or telling me?"

Charity makes a face at her, her cheeks feeling a little warm.

"She needed a cuddle buddy," Noah starts to fill in, ignoring his mum's look. "It  _ definitely _ wasn't going to be me. Or anyone else in the family. So she got herself a cat."

"That's not true," Charity defends but Noah's pointed look makes her slump and she lets out a breath. "Well, not completely. Moses kept annoying me, asking if he could have a pet. Knowing him, he wouldn't walk a dog three times a day an' all, and I  _ definitely _ wasn't. And I certainly wasn't going to get any kind of rodent, so I got a cat instead. Much easier to handle and take care of." 

She looks up and lets out a dramatic sigh. "And yes, maybe I also liked the aspect of getting some cuddles in. Happy now?"

"Delighted." Chas and Noah both grin at her and she rolls her eyes. 

Charity looks over at Vanessa and shakes her head at the look she's getting.

"You big softie." Vanessa grins lovingly at her and takes a sip of her pint.

"Whatever, babe." 

Charity and Vanessa continue to stare lovingly at each other and Noah makes pretend gagging noises while Chas tells them to get a room. Vanessa pokes Noah in his side and he lets out a squeak while Charity pushes Chas away from her.

"Is there a possibility that I could get another pint? Preferably now," Cain interrupts them and Charity rolls her eyes before moving towards the pumps. 

She turns back to look at Vanessa and Chas to tell them what she was going to say before they got a little sidetracked. “Oh, by the way, the boys and Eve are all dead to the world, so we best wake them in an hour if we want to avoid any tantrums.”

Chas nods her head. "Good call. We don't need a repeat of the past two years."

As Charity serves Cain, Chas explains to Vanessa what had happened those nights. Two years ago Moses had slept right through the fireworks, and he'd been thoroughly upset by that fact, which resulted in the world's best dramatic performance by a six-year-old.

The next year he'd taken an early nap to be sure he'd be awake on time. Only, that nap had lasted three hours and so by the time they got home again, he'd been so hyper that he couldn't get back to sleep again.

By the time an exhausted Charity had finally gotten him to calm down again, and they'd eventually fallen asleep, it had been 6am. Charity had sworn to not let either situation happen again.

XOX

Chas had truly meant it when she'd said she was glad that Vanessa was here again, but now she's getting a little tired of watching her cousin and her stare at each other like lovesick fools. She’d been left to do most of the serving and collecting the empties for the past hour, while Charity and Vanessa basically flirted with each other.

It's like nothing changed. Which is a good thing, because Charity deserves to be happy again. And clearly Vanessa still makes her happy. But she would like some help and for Charity to actually  _ do her job _ .

So, she decides to burst their bubble—she's left them alone long enough now. "Charity, if you can tear yourself away from Vanessa for a moment, Bob and Liam need serving. I'm going to check if the kids are awake."

Without waiting for a reply, Chas walks out of the pub and into the backroom. She can hear a soft whispering as she gets closer to her living room and when she stands in the doorway, a smile starts to form on her face.

The boys are both awake and are quietly building what seems to be a ship out of the Legos Moses had brought with him. They're being very careful not to wake up a still fast-asleep Eve.

Her smile grows as she looks over at her daughter’s sleeping form and sees that Eve is basically surrounded by pillows. She just knows that that's Charity's work. Her cousin would move heaven and earth for the kids, especially for Eve—even if she would end up denying such a fact if questioned on her acts of kindness.

"Hi, Chas." Johnny's soft voice grabs her attention and she smiles back at him. 

"Hey, boys," she greets back and Johnny gives her a smile before going back to the Legos. Moses barely looks up as he mumbles a reply to her.

Chas shakes her head and decides to leave the two alone. She walks over towards her daughter and crouches down. She reaches a hand out and strokes her face, slowly pulling her from her slumber.

“Hi, sweetheart. Time to wake up,” she whispers softly and smiles as eyelids start to twitch before slowly opening. She looks into blue eyes that squint back up at her, trying to adjust to the light in the room. 

Eve lets out a small groan before closing her eyes again. “No wakey.” 

Chas lets out a small chuckle. “You have to wake up now, sweetheart. Or you’ll miss the fireworks.”

The last word gets a reaction and suddenly Eve is sitting up and moving to wrap her arms around her mum’s neck. “‘M ‘cited. Where’s Cherry?”

Chas rolls her eyes but wraps her arms around her daughter and stands up—even though she shouldn’t carry Eve in her current condition. “Aunty Cherry is in the pub, making googly eyes at Vanessa.”

Eve simply snuggles her face into her neck while Chas makes her way back into the pub after waving at Johnny. Eve’s breathing is slowed, almost as if she’s dozing off again but once they enter the busy room, her head pops up and her eyes immediately seek out her favourite person. 

“Aunty Cherry!” Eve excitingly shouts and reaches her hands out towards her. Charity’s standing close to Vanessa, but quickly turns around at her nickname.

“My little Miss Evie!” she exclaims and makes her way over to them. Eve is wrapped up in her arms a second later and the two share whispered words and giggles while Chas rolls her eyes and makes her way over towards Vanessa. 

Vanessa is smiling her soft smile again as she watches Charity and Eve interact with each other, but looks at Chas when she gets closer.

“Might as well serve you another drink. That there...” Chas points at her cousin and daughter before continuing, “might take a while. What you having? Another pint? Or something else?”

XOX

Chas hadn’t been wrong. Charity and Eve apparently had a whole routine and a list of subjects to go through before either of them could focus back on the world around them. It took them a good twenty minutes to even look away from one another. 

But once they did, and Eve’s eyes had landed on Vanessa, the girl had quickly demanded Charity walk over to her so she could start her little investigation on who this ‘Vanessa’ was and what she liked. 

She had really important questions to ask her, like:  _ ‘Fav’rite colour?’ ‘Yellow.’  _ — coincidentally Eve’s favourite colour as well, followed very closely by purple.  _ ‘Fav’rite food?’ ‘Lasagna. And pizza.’ ‘No yucky yellow stuff on it, right?’ ‘Pineapple? No, yuck.’  _ — followed by both of them making faces and Charity proudly nodding her head.

Of course the next question couldn’t be left out, as it was probably the most important one yet.  _ ‘Fav’rite animal?’ ‘All animals that have fur and are warm-blooded, but my favourite are definitely goats.’ _

Eve was having a grand time discovering more things about Vanessa. Especially that she was a vet, just like her daddy. Eve got even more excited when she learned that Vanessa had once worked with her daddy. 

It wasn’t long after that little tidbit was revealed that Eve decided Vanessa was now her third-favourite person—Charity would forever be her number one and Noah her number two—and she had quickly found her way onto Vanessa’s lap. 

While Chas and Charity continue to take care of some punters, Eve is now eagerly chatting Vanessa’s ears off. The little girl has a lot to say and Vanessa is perfectly content to hear more stories, especially when they have to do with ‘Aunty Cherry’; a name she still finds very endearing. 

She's learning a lot from Eve about Charity. Though she had always known that Charity was a big softie with the biggest heart—as adamant she was in not owning up to that at first and only showing parts of that when they were alone or with the boys—she's happy that Charity has finally decided to show and share that part with others now, too.

And it's clear—and especially very endearing—to see how much this little girl means to Charity, and in turn how much Charity means to Eve.

XOX

Tracy had decided to join their little circle a little while later. They’d been talking and laughing about anything and everything, but were mainly poking fun at one another. The teasing banter between Charity and Tracy was still the same as it had been back then.

At one point, Tracy made a comment about how she loved that they were here together, that it just wasn’t right when the _ two _ of them  _ weren't together _ . Like the yin to the other’s yang was missing. Like the universe was unsettled.

When she made a slurred comment about them being the modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, Charity promptly cut off her alcohol intake for the rest of the night, which wouldn't really make a difference as it was almost midnight.

While Vanessa swats Tracy’s arm and tells her to reign her comments in, Chas walks back behind the bar and taps Charity's shoulder. She points at the clock and Charity's eyes widen; she had no idea it was this late already. As she walks over to the little fridge to get the champagne out, Chas makes her way to the bell and rings it.

"Alright folks, it's almost twelve. If you need the loo, I'd go now. Otherwise, grab a glass of champagne, your coats and head outside to ring in the new year!" Chas exclaims and watches as people slowly start to move around.

Eve wiggles in Vanessa's lap—she hadn't left it since she got comfortable there almost two hours ago—and cheers when Charity expertly pops a cork. Vanessa and Charity share a grin at the excitement coming from the four-year-old.

Chas walks over to them and is about to reach for Eve when the little girl shakes her head. "No. I want Ness to carry me."

Chas raises an eyebrow but smiles when Eve adds in a soft ' _ please _ '. She then looks over to see if Vanessa is okay with it.

"'Course I will. The princess needs a carriage, doesn't she?"

Eve giggles for a moment before making a serious face and squishes Vanessa's cheeks together. "You a princess too."

Vanessa grins and shoots a look at Charity, who is trying mighty hard to ignore them. "How could I forget?"

Vanessa stands up with Eve safely wrapped in her arms. "Let's go get the boys ready, and get your coat."

"Wait." Eve holds a hand out and reaches over for Charity who steps closer to her. "We watch together, right?"

Charity smiles and nods her head. "I promised you, didn't I?"

Eve nods and is content with her reply. Vanessa tells Charity that she'll wait for her in the backroom. In turn, Charity tells Vanessa to make sure Moses puts his hat on—adding something about not wanting another earache to keep them awake night upon night.

XOX

While Chas is helping Eve with her coat—and getting ready herself—Vanessa tells the boys to sit down on the couch before taking a seat on the coffee table in front of them. "Alright boys, I need you to listen carefully, yeah?"

She waits until they both nod before continuing. "I want you to listen and do what Noah tells you to do, okay? Fire and fireworks are dangerous and you can get seriously hurt."

Johnny attentively listens to her while Moses is distracted by Noah's sudden appearance in the doorway. He has his school bag on his back and is holding a plastic bag in his hand; both filled with fireworks for him, Jacob and the boys to set off.

"Moz." Vanessa turns him to face her again. "I'm serious about this. I don't want to start the new year in the burn unit at the hospital. And your mum definitely doesn't. So listen to Noah."

"They better," Noah pipes up, a serious look on his face—mainly directed at Moses. "Or else they won't get to help me."

Vanessa exchanges a look with him, and after coming to a silent agreement, she lets the boys go. "Alright, go on. Be careful.  _ All _ of you."

She sends each of them a pointed look, still a little nervous about their safety. Moses dashes off towards Noah, who quickly pulls him back with his free hand.

"Oi! Slow down, will ya," Noah warns him. "We still got time."

Johnny stands up and leans forward to place a kiss against Vanessa's cheek. "We'll listen to Noah, mummy. See you outside?"

"You will, my darling."

Johnny smiles before walking over towards Noah and Moses and grabbing Moses' hand. Noah turns to look at her. "I'll keep my eyes on them, don't worry. See you in a bit."

Vanessa simply nods her head at him and watches as the three of them walk out of the room. Chas and Eve make their way over to her.

"He's a good kid, he won't let anything happen," Chas tells her. Vanessa nods her head and smiles when Eve leans against her side. 

“You watch with us too? Right?” Eve asks her and Vanessa’s smile grows.

“Of course. I’m gonna wait for Charity and then we’ll be right out. Okay?” 

Eve nods her head and, with a tug on her mum’s hand, starts to pull her towards the doorway. Chas chuckles and points towards the pub, while trying to walk backwards. “And that’s my cue. See you outside.”

Vanessa chuckles as well and simply waves at their retreating forms as Eve continues to pull her mum with her. 

There’s a silence that settles over the room. The only noises Vanessa can hear are the excited chatter outside and the clinking of glasses in the pub. 

When she had first moved in here, the change from the loudness of the pub to the peaceful silence once they closed up had taken her by surprise. It was something both she and Charity quickly learned to appreciate, especially when their lives became more hectic and the quiet moments became harder to find. 

Just like they used to do together, Vanessa decides to take in the quiet and enjoy the moment of calm as she moves to sit down on the couch. She smiles at the pictures she can see hanging on the walls, or standing on shelves. 

There are old ones—like that particular picture of Charity and Noah that seems to have been in every room. And newer ones of moments she hadn’t been a part of. Like the one with Charity, Moses and Eve all covered in what seems to be whipped cream—it makes her chuckle, and then let out a sad sigh.

She wonders what had all happened in the time she’d been gone. She obviously knows part of it from Charity’s stories, but there was still a lot she didn’t know about what happened in their lives. Like those little inside jokes she has with Noah, or that whole routine she has with Eve. 

Vanessa wants nothing more than to be back here again. She had truly missed them; not a day went by where she hadn’t thought about Charity and the boys. About what they might be doing; about how they might be feeling. What kinds of trouble they might be causing her. Or the trouble  _ Charity _ might be causing.

Her feelings for Charity had always been pretty loud and clear. Right after that first kiss, she’d been hooked. And even though she knew she had to be very careful, because Charity was still  _ Charity _ , the woman who had outconned her con artist of a dad, she couldn’t help herself. There was just this pull.

As Vanessa spent more time with her, she quickly discovered that the front Charity would constantly put on, wasn’t the real her. With every glimpse of the kind, goofy and mostly soft person Charity truly was, she’d only fallen deeper. 

And even when they had fought, had argued, had screamed at each other and had said things they shouldn’t have, those feelings hadn’t changed a bit. When she had ended their relationship, and eventually moved away, those feelings just seemed to grow. 

One thing she knows for certain is that Charity is her one true love—and she always would be. Vanessa had told herself that if the chance arose, that she would fight for Charity. That she wouldn’t let Charity push her away so much that the only outcome was for them both to be broken-hearted. 

And now that chance was here. 

Getting back in touch with Charity had been a blessing, and learning how much Charity had changed was even better. They’d stayed in friendly territory for the first few months but then flirty texts started to slowly filter through their conversations, and tonight? There had definitely been flirty banter and touches. 

Vanessa thinks back at the looks they’d exchanged. It was the exact same look Charity had given her when they’d started dating all those years ago. Even though neither of them had said the words, she could feel that the love between them hadn’t been lost. It had only become stronger.

It had helped settle her thoughts and feelings. 

When Noah had texted her about this plan, she’d told herself that she wouldn’t go back to London without having a long conversation with Charity. An honest conversation about feelings. About how they hadn’t changed and how much she wants to give them another chance. 

They could figure everything out. They needed to, really. There was only one person for her—which was made more and more obvious to her with every failed date that she went on, even though she could barely count them on one hand. 

No, Charity was  _ it _ for her. Now she just hopes Charity feels the same way, and that she wants the same thing too.

Though, thinking of the flirty looks Charity had sent her, and how she couldn’t stop those soft, barely-there but very deliberate touches… How close they’d been standing, how often Charity would lean closer into her; their faces so close that it had taken everything in her not to kiss her right then and there... 

Their relationship had started with an impulsive kiss on Charity’s part. Yes, they had both drunk a decent amount of alcohol, but they’d both wanted to. And she had definitely enjoyed it—once she got over the shock of how good kissing a woman felt. And then of course getting over the shock that it was  _ Charity _ .

That had lasted less than twenty-four hours and had eventually brought Vanessa the best, most loving and true relationship she had ever had. Even if the ending was less so.

_ Maybe it was time for her to be the impulsive one for once.  _

Vanessa starts nodding her head to herself as the thought crosses her mind. As she tries to think of ways to start that conversation with Charity, and tries to figure out what to say to her, she doesn’t realise that the person she’s been thinking about has entered the room and has been staring at her with a confused look on her face.

“Uhm... Babe?” Charity asks and takes a step closer. She waves a hand in front of Vanessa’s face who jerks back from the sudden movement. “I called your name three times already. You’re not like, having a stroke on me right now, right? Cos that’s definitely not in my plans tonight.”

Vanessa snaps her eyes up at Charity and simply stares at her. Whatever she just said to her, she didn’t hear a word of it. All she can think about is that with the kitchen lighting around Charity, and with her new hairdo that she still can’t get over, she looks absolutely gorgeous. 

She lets out a soft sigh and slowly starts to grin. She’s still so deeply in love with this woman. 

Charity’s confusion grows and worry sets in. “Ness? Babe, you’re starting to freak me out a little now.”

The words finally start to register and Vanessa first shakes her head to clear her thoughts a little before nodding her head again. 

Charity waves her arm around, indicating Vanessa’s head movements, as she says, “This non-speaking bobblehead act is not helping.”

Excited voices from outside start to filter into the room. 

Vanessa suddenly stands up with a nod to herself and a determined look spreads on her face. Charity frowns a little and takes a step back. 

“Vanessa?”

The people outside get louder, it’s clear they’re starting to count down. Vanessa hadn’t realised it was so late already, but it only makes her more sure of her decision. For once she’s going to be the impulsive one. 

She keeps walking closer until Charity is softly pressed against the cabinet. Vanessa’s eyes drop down to her lips for a moment and Charity slowly catches on to what Vanessa’s doing.

To be honest, she’d been wanting to kiss Vanessa since the moment she’d laid eyes on her, but there were still so many things to work out between them. She hadn’t wanted to pressure Vanessa—and really, she’s a little scared herself of what might happen if they did kiss again, or finally had that talk.

But now, as Vanessa steps into her personal space, she doesn’t give a damn anymore. All she wants is Vanessa’s lips on hers. 

Outside the people get even louder with every number as they get closer to one. 

_ Three... _

Vanessa stands right in front of her, eyes zeroed in on her lips as she places a hand on Charity’s waist. 

Charity’s eyes drop down to Vanessa’s lips as she reaches out to cup her cheek.

_ Two... _

They both glance back up to make eye-contact. Their eyes lock for a moment as Charity starts to lean her head down and Vanessa angles her head up. Their lips are just a hair’s breadth apart now. 

_ One... _


	5. January 1st

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is some awkwardness — an accidental trope snuck in that I didn't even realize until I was half-way through the scene — there is some nervousness, some talks that needed to be have, a revelation and as usual, fluff and little bits of humor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda can't believe this is the last chapter
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed the story, and that you enjoy the final part of it. I had a lot of fun writing this story — though some parts were pretty tricky (we can partionally blame Charity for that, she's way too emotional and snarky sometimes) 
> 
> Thank you again for all the lovely comments and the kudos! It means a lot!
> 
> Anyway, I'll let you read it now. I hope the ending doesn't disappoint :)

**Chapter Five: January 1st**

_December 31st, 23.52_

“Yoohoo, hello?” Charity calls out in a singsong voice and steps further into the backroom. 

She had made quick work of pouring the last of the champagne and putting the empty bottles away before rushing to the backroom. She didn’t want to risk ringing in the new year without her family—which include Johnny and Vanessa—by her side. 

She had kind of expected Vanessa to be waiting for her with their coats, but instead she finds the woman sitting on the couch, staring off into the distance with a faraway look on her face. 

“Ness?” Charity tries again as she stops next to the couch. She leans down and waves a hand in front of Vanessa’s face. “Babe?”

Vanessa jerks back at the sudden movement and stares up at her with wide eyes. “Wh-what?” 

She takes a moment to try and clear her head. _Had she really been daydreaming that? Was that just a figment of her imagination? Stepping into Charity’s personal space and leaning in for a kiss..._

Charity has a look of confusion on her face as she watches a couple of emotions appear and disappear on Vanessa’s face, and starts to wonder what’s going on. 

“Are you okay, babe?” Charity asks and watches as Vanessa shakes her head before nodding.

“Yeah, I just… Sorry, I was off in dreamland somewhere.” Vanessa does that awkward laugh-smile thing she always does when she feels uncomfortable or unsure but is trying to hide it. 

“Right. Okay.”

Charity really wants to know what’s going on with her, but glancing at the clock, she sees that it’s almost twelve. If they want to be on time for the fireworks, they need to get their coats on and go outside right now. 

Making a mental note to ask Vanessa about this later, she points over her shoulder. “We should head out. I made a promise to Eve and I’m sticking to it.”

Vanessa nods her head. “Of course.”

Charity starts walking towards the hallway to grab her coat, while Vanessa slowly moves towards the kitchen chair to grab her own. She’s still in a little bit of a confused daze from her daydream. She swears she can still feel Charity’s hot breath against her lips...

Charity’s voice grabs her attention again. “I can’t have Eve be mad at me. I mean, I can deal with getting the cold shoulder from anyone else, I have gotten that often enough, but from Eve… That I cannot." 

" _Or from you, for that matter_ ," she whispers to herself as she zips up her coat and walks back over towards Vanessa, who, unbeknownst to her, has actually heard her. Vanessa stays silent, however, still not quite recovered from whatever her imagination dreamed up just moments ago. 

The almost-kiss just keeps flashing through her mind. It had seemed so real to her. And now, all she can think about is kissing Charity—although it’s not like she hadn’t continuously thought about doing exactly that all evening anyway. 

“Oi.” Charity pushes her arm, a playful grin on her face. “Get your coat on. Unless you’re planning on freezing your bits off?”

Vanessa finally snaps out of her Charity-induced trance and shakes her head. She lets out a chuckle before putting her coat on and zipping it up. “No, definitely not my plan.” 

She puts her hand in one of the coat pockets and pulls out a knitted hat. She places it on her head and grins up at Charity. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Finally,” Charity huffs, the grin on her face only growing bigger. She reaches out to grab Vanessa’s hand and starts to pull her out of the backroom and through the pub. “Come on, slowpoke.”

Vanessa can’t help but smile and shake her head at the childlike excitement Charity is currently showing and lets Charity lead her outside. 

Charity could honestly care less about the fireworks; she just wants to watch Eve’s face when the sky lights up in a multitude of colours. The childlike wonder is something magical, something she herself had lost years ago but had found again when she’d started dating Vanessa. 

She also has to admit that she’s looking forward to watching Vanessa’s face as well. When they’d spent their first New Year’s together and had watched the fireworks—once they’d put the whole ‘Ryan’s failed surprise birthday party’ fiasco behind them—she’d looked over as they stood cuddled together and seen that childlike wonder in Vanessa’s eyes too. 

The relaxed smile on Vanessa’s face, and the happy glint in her eyes as she’d looked up into the sky while snuggling closer into her side... it had soothed something deep inside of Charity. For the first time in probably ever, she was able to enjoy New Year’s Eve. And it had mostly been because of the woman standing by her side.

She can’t wait to see Vanessa’s eyes light up again. 

There’s a gaggle of Dingles standing in front of the Woolpack. To their right, on the little grass field in front of Smithy Cottage, are Noah, Jacob, Moses and Johnny. They’re still setting up some of the fireworks they want to use first.

Along the street are a couple of groups ready to set off their own fireworks as well. Dawn and Billy seem to be handing out some sparklers to the people standing closest to them, Lucas excitedly hopping in between them. 

Charity and Vanessa are still holding hands as they make their way over to where Belle, Chas, Paddy, and more importantly, Eve, are standing. The little girl spots her aunt immediately and grins. 

“Aunty Cherry! You're here!” 

Charity smiles. “I promised you, didn’t I?”

Chas glances down at their entwined hands but keeps her mouth shut. There’s a glint in her eyes though, and she can’t help but send Vanessa a playful wink when she meets her eyes. 

If it wasn’t for the cold air colouring Vanessa’s cheeks red already, Chas would have bet that she had a blush forming. The inability to meet her eyes again gives Vanessa away though and Chas lets out a chuckle. 

Eve squirms in Paddy’s arms and he eventually gives up trying to hold her. As soon as her feet touch the ground, she runs over to Charity, who lets go of Vanessa’s hand and picks the girl up right away. 

Vanessa’s hand feels cold the second Charity lets go. But when she glances up at the joy on not only Charity’s face, but Eve’s as well as they excitedly talk to one another, she can feel a warmth settle over her. 

It had always been heart-warming and endearing to watch Charity interact with the kids. She could be in the foulest of moods, but for the littluns she’d always adopt the softest of tones and they’d all be giggling—or creating mayhem—a few minutes later. 

As they wait for the countdown, and now that Vanessa has had a moment to let her earlier daydream really set in, she starts to scold herself. Instead of being a nervous, quiet wreck, she just should’ve done what ‘imagination Vanessa’ had done. Be impulsive and either blurt her feelings out or, just like she’d wanted the moment she got here, plant one on Charity. 

But she’d chickened out. Again. When she and Johnny were supposed to visit for Christmas, she’d made a plan to talk to Charity about, well, everything. But then Johnny had gotten sick, so she’d taken the easy escape and texted that they couldn’t come—even though the fever had broken quite soon after.

She glances up at Charity again. A soft smile forms on her lips immediately as she watches and listens to her and Eve having a discussion about something to do with... _fish_? She has no clue where that topic came from, but it doesn’t matter as a moment later the two break out in giggles.

Vanessa can almost feel her heart expand and her feelings grow just from that. It settles something inside her and she nods to herself. The next time she has a moment alone with Charity, she’s going to make a move. They’ve lost enough time and—

_“Time for the countdown!”_ a loud voice shouts and soon the villagers start to count down. Vanessa is shaken out of her thoughts and starts to count down along with the others.

The closer they get to one, the louder everybody gets. Eve sends her a big grin before looking up into the sky as they reach the last numbers of the countdown. 

_“Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!”_

The sky starts to light up with fireworks and the sound of the different explosions fill the air, mixed with happy shouts of well wishes for the new year. Vanessa is distracted by the beautiful colours in the night air and she almost startles when Belle nudges her side.

“Happy New Year, Ness.” Belle opens her arms for a hug that Vanessa easily reciprocates.

“Happy New Year to you too, Belle.” 

Belle sends her a grin before moving to the next person, which happens to be Chas. Vanessa takes that moment to look over at Charity and is surprised to see her watching her already. There’s a soft look in her eyes, a look she’s all too familiar with and can’t help but return.

Eve suddenly turns towards them both. “Look! So pretty!” 

The girl’s face is filled with awe as she points up at the sky. 

“I know!” Vanessa enthuses back and points to something in the sky. “Look, Evie. They even got yellow colours.”

Eve's smile grows bigger, if that’s even possible. She excitedly claps her hands and continues to stare at all the fireworks going off around them. 

Charity takes a step closer to her, adjusting Eve in her arms, and nudges Vanessa’s side. With the softest of voices, and the most piercing and stunning eyes, she turns to her. _“Happy New Year, babe.”_

Her tone is barely above a whisper and Vanessa knows that if they weren’t standing so close, she would’ve missed it. She sends Charity a smile, trying to convey a multitude of emotions in them while replying, _“Happy New Year, Charity.”_

XOX

They’d stood outside for a long while, just watching the fireworks and taking in the moment. Vanessa had ended up leaning into Charity’s side to keep warm—and to just enjoy their closeness. 

She’d occasionally glanced over to watch the boys and a proud smile had formed on her face as she watched how well-behaved Johnny and Moses were being. They did exactly as Noah and Jacob told them to and the big smiles on their faces had been worth all the worrying and nerves. 

Once the firework show was over and the villagers started making their way back to their houses, Vanessa had helped gather the empty champagne flutes that had been left on the tables outside. 

Chas and Paddy had retired quickly after the last bits of firework had gone off. Though Eve had loved the colour spectacle, as soon as it was finished, she’d started yawning and rubbing her eyes. Chas had been understandably exhausted as well so they’d bid them a quick goodbye and went inside. 

Which left Charity with the task of cleaning up the pub a little. She’d wanted to start the first load of dishes so that they wouldn’t have to wait on it tomorrow. And she also needed to clean up the left-overs of the finger food dishes Marlon had made. 

Vanessa immediately offered to help. Charity had refused at first, but when she’d yawned and Vanessa had raised her eyebrow, stating that two sets of hands would get things done quicker, she’d quickly taken the help—after making a quip about what else two sets of hands could do, of course.

As Vanessa places a few empty glasses and paper plates on top of the bar, Charity glances over at the three boys sitting in the corner booth. Johnny’s eyes are droopy while Moses keeps yawning as they quietly play with their Lego cars.

“Hey, No?” 

Noah looks up from the Lego man he’d been playing with. “Yeah?”

“Why don’t you take the boys home? They look like they’re about to keel over, and I’m not planning on carrying either one of them.” 

He has a teasing retort ready about his mum’s old body but she sends him a warning look before he can actually open his mouth. 

“Don’t.”

“What? I didn’t even say anything,” he defends, a glint in his eyes that’s mirrored in his mum’s.

“Oh, but you were gonna.” Charity narrows her eyes playfully as she puts some cling film over a dish that could still be eaten at a later time.

“I wouldn’t trust her to carry Johnny either,” Vanessa suddenly pipes in and Charity snaps her head up at that, a wounded look on her face. It quickly changes into an open-mouthed look as Vanessa continues with, “She’s no spring chicken anymore. Might end up dropping precious cargo.”

Charity simply gawks at her while Noah’s laughter fills the air. Vanessa looks proud of herself for rendering Charity speechless. After a moment, Charity shakes her head and sends her a mock-glare. 

Normally she’d have a good response to a comment like that, but she’s too stunned and too tired to think of one right now, so she simply replies with, “That hurt.”

“Would hurt more if you fell with one of them and ended up with a broken hip or summat,” comes the quick reply. 

“Oh wow, don’t hold back, babe,” Charity says, a smile slowly forming on her face. “This payback for saying you grew up with the gnomes?”

Vanessa shrugs. “Maybe.” 

They stare at each other with soft grins that cause Noah to roll his eyes. But he can’t hide the happy smile growing on his own face. He stands up and turns towards the boys—his brothers.

“Come on, guys. Let’s get our coats and go home. I dunno about you two, but I’m definitely ready for bed.”

Moses and Johnny murmur sleepy replies as they stand up and make their way towards the backroom. Noah goes to follow them but is stopped in his tracks by Vanessa’s voice. 

“Wait up a moment,” she tells him before turning to Charity. “I know we didn’t have much time to discuss this, but... you still sure it’s okay that we're staying with you?”

“Of course,” Charity blurts out immediately. Her cheeks start to feel a little warm from the embarrassingly quick reply, and she tries hard to ignore Noah’s amused snort and chuckles. 

She softens her voice. “You know you never even have to ask, right? You and Johnnybobs are always welcome.”

Vanessa slowly starts to nod. “Okay. If you’re absolutely certain?”

Noah rolls his eyes. He’s also pretty tired and decides to speed things up so he can go and lie down in his nice, warm and comfy bed. He interrupts them before this discussion goes on for longer than necessary. “She is. Now, do you need me for something or…”

“Oh. Yeah!” Vanessa shakes her head and turns to him. “Johnny’s bag is still in the car, I didn’t really get a chance to go grab it, so could you—”

“Where are your keys?” Noah asks instead. 

Vanessa fills him in and he tells her he’ll grab her bag as well so she doesn’t have to make an extra trip to her car. He tells them to have fun and to behave, before bidding them a goodnight. 

Without waiting for a reply, he walks away. Vanessa simply stares after him with her mouth open. 

Charity lets out a chuckle. “Yeah, I stopped trying to understand him years ago.”

“Didn’t you already do that?” Vanessa can’t help but ask and Charity makes a playfully wounded face and places her hand over her heart. 

“Ouch. I forgot how mean exhaustion could make you.”

“Now, we both know that exhaustion does not make me mean. That’s you,” Vanessa retorts with a raised eyebrow. Instead of arguing, Charity simply tilts her head before nodding.

“Suppose you’ve got a good point there.” She lets out a sigh as she looks around. “Alright… Let’s get this done so we can finally go to bed. I’m knackered.”

Together they work fast and in sync, and soon the left-overs are in the fridge and they’ve made their way further into the kitchen, placing the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. 

Now that it’s just the two of them, Vanessa is trying to gather up all her courage to decide on the next step, and to actually follow through once she knows what to do, but figuring that out is still a little tricky.

Should she just say something, blurt things out, or should she do something more _active_ or _impulsive_ ? She knows she needs to do _something_. But, would Charity push her away if she did? Would Charity—

Unbeknownst to Vanessa, Charity is having almost the same inner struggle. She’d wanted to kiss Vanessa the moment she’d first seen her earlier today. But, she also needed Vanessa to know how she still feels about her, and that she wants to be more than just friends. That she wants to try again. 

But how to go about it? Just kiss her like she did that night in the cellar—even though that was mainly to quieten the woman who seemed to be able to read her like a book even though it was the first time they’d had a conversation lasting longer than an order at the bar?

Or should she for once be _less_ impulsive? Carefully and slowly lead up to a conversation, be completely honest and then see where it leads them? Should she—

A hand touching the back of her own pulls her from her thoughts. Just that simple touch sends a shiver up and down both their spines. They glance up at one another and their eyes lock.

It had been like that all evening. A look, a smile, a laugh, a graze, a touch. Any kind of connection had warranted the fluttering of butterflies, of chills, of heartbeats speeding up.

Vanessa knows she could easily lose herself in those deep and passionate green eyes, but she reluctantly breaks their gaze to look down at Charity’s lips. They’re slightly parted and looking so, _so_ inviting. It would be so easy to just...

Charity notices Vanessa’s eyes drop down to her lips and she subconsciously pokes her tongue out to wet them. She can feel her heartbeat quicken, again. She lets her eyes drift down to stare at Vanessa’s lips. She could easily… 

There’s an obvious pull, a sudden tension filling the air between them as they both look up and make eye-contact again. There’s a moment where they just stare at each other, and then, with a shake of her head, Vanessa makes a decision.

_“Screw it,”_ she whispers out before moving forward and reaching up to cup Charity’s face in her hands. With another quick glance at Charity’s eyes, she moves closer and leans in.

Charity willingly leans in too and the moment their lips touch, there’s a spark that ignites. It’s almost like imaginary fireworks go off. Another shiver runs up and down their spines and they sigh against each other’s lips. 

As she takes Vanessa’s bottom lip between hers, Charity wraps her arms around Vanessa’s waist to pull her closer. Vanessa weaves a hand through Charity’s short hair and gives a little tug. Charity lets out an appreciative moan and pulls Vanessa even closer. 

The kiss starts to deepen a little when Charity slowly swipes her tongue over Vanessa’s lip. She can feel the effect of the move in the shiver it pulls from Vanessa and it makes her smile.

Vanessa mirrors her smile for a moment before wrapping both arms around Charity's neck, effectively locking her in place. 

They’re completely lost in each other. Feeling like they’re exactly where they want to be. Feeling like they’re home. 

Eventually their kiss turns sweet and soft again. Just light brushes of lips against lips, and the occasional swipe of a tongue over a lip. 

Reluctantly, they break apart and both are a little breathless as they slowly open their eyes. Charity watches as Vanessa’s eyes flutter open and she squeezes her waist. They lock eyes and both start to grin before breaking out into giggles.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all evening,” Vanessa breathes out. 

Charity’s grin grows, if that’s even possible. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I realised you were really here.”

They stare at each other for a while before Charity leans in again and reconnects their lips for another kiss. Now that they’ve finally kissed, she wants to do it over and over again. 

Continuing to trade short pecks and deeper kisses with another, it’s eventually disrupted by a yawn. Vanessa can’t help but pull back and make a mock-hurt face. 

“So kissing me is boring you already, aye?” she teases playfully. She knows that Charity must be exhausted, and to be honest, so is she. 

Charity chuckles and shakes her head before her look turns serious. “Your kisses could never bore me.”

Vanessa can feel her heart flutter at the words. She leans in for a quick peck before, regretfully, pulling back and taking a step back. “We better finish this, before you fall asleep on me.”

“How could anyone ever fall asleep on you, tiny blonde rocket woman?” Charity jokes and throws in a playful wink before they both start to laugh. 

They work together swiftly and it doesn’t take long before the dishwasher is full and running. They clean up a few little bits and bobs as well before making their way back into the pub and grabbing their coats. 

They keep exchanging looks—equally relieved and nervous—with one another as they zip up their coats and walk out of the pub. Charity locks the door behind her and immediately reaches out to hold Vanessa’s hand as they start walking over towards Jacob’s Fold.

XOX

During their short walk, Charity had suddenly gone quiet. Vanessa, however, had been too busy focussing on staying upright to notice. The alcohol she’d consumed throughout the evening and the exhaustion running through her body had made her a little unsteady. 

Once they get inside Jacob’s Fold, Vanessa notes that Noah has placed her bag on the sofa. She smiles as she unzips her coat and turns around to hang it up. Charity silently hangs up her own coat while Vanessa takes a moment to look around the living room. 

Not much has changed and she smiles when she sees that the picture collage is still hanging on the wall above the dining table. There are a lot of new pictures in it, but some of the older ones are still there—including pictures of her and Johnny.

She's so enraptured by the newer pictures, and the fact that Charity kept the pictures of herself and Johnny up, that she is oblivious to how uncharacteristically quiet and nervous Charity has become. 

On the walk over, Charity had suddenly come to a realization. One that she should’ve thought of earlier, but she’d been too distracted by everything Vanessa.

Scratching awkwardly at her neck, Charity eventually clears her throat. Vanessa turns around with a small smile on her face. Her smile drops when she sees the uncertainty on Charity’s face and she gives her a confused look. 

“So, I uh… I kinda forgot that the spare room is actually kind of a storage room now. Which means, I, uh, don't actually have a room for you to sleep in," Charity rambles out, before looking away and drawing out the next word, "Unless…”

“Unless?” Vanessa prompts while tilting her head a little.

Charity starts to nervously play and pull at her fingers. “Well, there are two options.”

Vanessa simply waits for Charity to continue, which she does after a moment.

“First would be the couch, which, even though it’s pretty great to sleep on, I wouldn’t recommend. Obviously, I could also totally take the couch since you're my guest of course,” Charity quickly rushes out and Vanessa tries hard to contain an amused grin.

It’s rare that Charity gets so nervous about anything, really. It’s quite endearing when it does happen. 

“Or?” she asks instead, when Charity doesn’t continue. 

“Or… You could, you know… uhm...” Charity looks away again as she mumbles out the next words, “sleep in my room. With uhm… _me_.”

The last word almost comes out as a squeak. Vanessa can’t help but fall more for this adorably flustered woman. 

Since their kiss, she’s started to feel more relaxed about things. It had proven to her that their spark was still there. But she had also noticed the nervous energy surrounding them afterwards.

And though she hadn’t exactly expected _that_ option, she'd still rather choose to share a bed than either of them having to sleep all alone on the couch. Her exhaustion is also really starting to set in, and even though she’s a little nervous too, she simply nods her head. “Okay.”

Charity’s eyes quickly shoot up to lock with hers. Vanessa lets out a chuckle at the wide-eyed look on her face. Charity quickly schools it though and starts to nod. “Okay, right… Well, that’s… Okay.”

The nervous tension keeps building. It’s starting to make things awkward between them and they both desperately want to break it. Eventually Vanessa is the one to speak up.

“I mean, we have shared a bed before, right? Besides, we’re adults. Adults can share a bed.” It doesn’t come out as certain as she’d hoped and the awkwardness just seems to go on longer. 

That is until a black and white creature suddenly shoots out from underneath the table and jumps up on the couch, only to then run quickly over the back of it. Vanessa lets out a screech as it jumps back off the couch and runs over to the stairs. 

“What the bloody heck was that?” Vanessa questions as she places a hand on her chest and tries to take in some deep breaths. 

Charity is equally startled but breaks out into a relieved chuckle as she looks back at Vanessa. “ _That_ was Felix.”

Vanessa takes that information in and soon she starts to chuckle as well. With the interruption from Felix, they can feel the atmosphere around them starting to become a little bit more relaxed. _Thank you, Felix._

Charity lets out a yawn and points upwards. “Come on. I can almost hear my bed calling me.”

“I think it’s more that your old bones are calling for a bed instead,” Vanessa chirps and is met by a fierce glare. 

“Oi! You're only two months younger than me! Better watch your mouth there. Remember who is letting you share a nice, soft and big bed tonight. I could easily kick you out."

"You won't." Vanessa grins and Charity simply rolls her eyes, knowing Vanessa is right—as usual, before making her way upstairs.

XOX

They’d quietly bickered and teased each other some more as they’d made their way up the stairs and through the hallway. But once they’d entered the bedroom, the tension from before had returned. 

This was the room they had only just started to share together before things went to hell. It was where they had felt safe, where they’d shared some of their deepest secrets and biggest dreams. Where they’d argued and shouted at one another, and then made up again. 

But most of all, it was the place where they’d made love. Where they’d sought out comfort from each other. Where they could be themselves the most. 

Memory after memory started to resurface. Good ones and bad ones. And combined with the lingering nervous and longing tension from before, it wasn’t a great mix. They suddenly found it difficult to make eye-contact with each other, especially when overtired and overcomplicated thoughts started to fill their heads. 

After some awkward glances, and even more awkward smiles, Charity decided that maybe they both just needed a little breather. A little space and time to calm down again. 

Vanessa was in the same state of mind, so when Charity offered for her to use the bathroom first, she’d quickly accepted. It had taken everything in her to not just sprint away. 

It was kind of ridiculous, but the atmosphere was just starting to become a little too much. It was also ridiculous in the way that they'd _both_ been wanting to have the other back in their lives again. But things were still unresolved between them on some level. 

Of course they’d talked about it during long phone calls, but there were still things that had been left unsaid. There was also the fact that they hadn’t spoken about their feelings and hopes for the future yet.

A lengthy and honest conversation was overdue, but they were both too tired and wound up to have it right then.

After Vanessa had walked out of the room, or well, made her quick escape, Charity had stared at the door for a moment. There was so much going through her head, so many confusing feelings happening at once. 

She is absolutely exhausted—she could probably fall asleep standing up if it wasn’t for her tensed-up body. Charity shakes her head. For so long she’d longed to share this bed with Vanessa again, and now the moment is there and she’s freaking out.

Charity closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in. She holds it for a moment before blowing it out, trying to rid herself of her nerves. She opens her eyes and starts to change into her pajamas while she waits for Vanessa to get back.

XOX

Once they’d both used the bathroom to brush their teeth, wash their make-up off their faces and do whatever other bedtime ritual they had, they’d awkwardly greeted each other again in the bedroom and gotten into the bed. 

They were both too afraid to even look at the other, let alone accidentally touch each other, and ended up lying stiffly next to one another, staring awkwardly up at the ceiling. 

Charity can’t quieten her mind, and it takes everything in her to not reach out and grab Vanessa’s hand. That hand that is so close, just a few centimeters from hers... Her fingers twitch again.

Vanessa can’t quieten her mind either, and she’s having difficulty trying to keep her hands to herself as well. But then a thought pops up in her head, or well, a voice more like. A voice that’s simply stating how stupid and silly they’re behaving. 

She suddenly has the urge to laugh at their behaviour and though she tries to hide it, she soon breaks.

Charity’s concentrating so hard on keeping control of her limbs that she startles at the sudden chuckles and giggles coming from the woman lying next to her. Charity can’t help but turn her head and frown. 

Vanessa feels warm, curious eyes land on her face and she turns her head to grin at Charity. She’s still chuckling as she tells Charity, “This is ridiculous. _We_ are being ridiculous.”

It’s mostly the exhaustion, and the fact that Vanessa’s giggles have always been so infectious, but after a beat Charity starts to chuckle as well. She nods her head to herself. Vanessa is totally right. This _is_ ridiculous. 

Eventually they both quieten down again, the awkward tension between them finally broken. They look at each other with soft smiles before Vanessa lets out a yawn. The motion sets off an immediate reaction in Charity’s exhausted body and she can’t help but yawn as well. 

Vanessa nods her head as she silently makes her mind up.

“Come on,” she says as she moves closer to Charity and starts to snuggle into her side. “Let’s just get some sleep.”

Charity’s body immediately relaxes as Vanessa cuddles into her side. She wraps her arms around Vanessa’s waist and pulls her closer while Vanessa’s arm covers her stomach. 

She can feel Vanessa melt into her side, knowing that she’s finally giving into her exhaustion. Vanessa mumbles out a soft _‘Goodnight, Charity’_ before completely giving in and drifting to sleep. 

Charity leans down and places a soft kiss on her forehead. “Sweet dreams, Ness.”

She closes her eyes and soon she follows Vanessa into dreamland. 

XOX

Vanessa isn’t really sure what exactly woke her up, but she knows she hasn’t slept this well in a long time. She also hasn’t felt this relaxed and happy for some time either. 

A soft snore, followed by a puff of warm breath hitting her neck makes her lips twitch up into a smile. The body next to her snuggles closer and she has to suppress a shiver when a cold nose presses against her neck. 

The arm wrapped around her waist squeezes tighter before relaxing again. Vanessa opens one eye to make sure that she isn’t dreaming. She lets out a relieved breath when she sees that it _is_ Charity she’s cuddling with. 

She suppresses a chuckle this time when she realises that at some point during the night, she and Charity had switched places. Some things just truly never change. 

When they’d first started sleeping together, Charity had always been adamant to be the one holding her. Something about being the bigger person, thus needing to be the big spoon. However, every time they’d woken up it was Vanessa who had ended up holding or spooning Charity instead—something she’d taken great delight in the first few times it had happened.

Vanessa tries to stay still as she lets her mind fill with memories of the day before. She’d been so excited and nervous during the ride to the village, but once she’d gotten there, and seen Charity again, everything had seemed to fade away. 

They’d so easily fallen back into step again with one another. And though she’d hoped for it, she never really expected to kiss Charity again after all this time. But the kisses that they _had_ ended up sharing, had felt so much better than she could ever imagine. 

It had settled something inside her. There was obviously still something between them. 

And she would really like to figure out where Charity stands and if she had felt it too—Vanessa thinks she does, considering the way they’d kissed and how cosy they currently are. 

She wonders if Charity wants to try again too. If she sees a future for them, even if that would mean that they’d have to date long-distance. At least for a little while. 

There was a lot that they needed to talk about, including old feelings that still needed some sorting out. But waking up like this, with Charity in her arms, she realises just how right it is. That this is where she needs to be.

“Ugh, can you turn it off?” a deep, sleepy voice suddenly murmurs out. “You’re thinking too loud.”

Charity had woken up a few minutes ago, but she was so content that she hadn’t dared move. However, she could practically hear Vanessa think and that always meant a talk was coming up.

She doesn’t exactly know if she’s ready for that yet, though. Especially since she's still so tired.

Vanessa smiles and pulls Charity closer into her side. “Sorry.”

Letting out a soft sigh, Charity places a soft kiss against her neck and feels Vanessa’s pulse fasten a little. She knows that she’s opening up a conversation when she asks, “Why are you awake? It’s way too early.”

“I was just…” Vanessa trails off and Charity squeezes her waist in encouragement. “I just got to thinking. And I realised how much I missed this. Waking up like this; in someone’s arms, or well, someone in my arms. Right, my little spoon?"

Vanessa lets out a squeal when Charity pinches her stomach before letting out a chuckle. Her voice softens again when she continues. “I just… I missed falling asleep in your arms. I missed waking up with you. I don’t think I’ve slept this well in years.”

Charity is quiet for a moment. She feels the exact same way. She lets out a soft sigh before replying. “I’ve missed it too.”

She opens her eyes and finally looks up at Vanessa. Their eyes convey an array of different emotions; the biggest and clearest one being love. Pure, unadulterated love. 

The magnetic pull that had been there for most of the evening is back. They're both unaware that they’re moving closer until their lips are a hair's breadth apart. After a moment's hesitation, they both lean in.

The kiss they share starts with soft brushes of lips against lips. Vanessa, feeling more brave, takes Charity's top lip in between hers and presses closer into her body.

Charity lets out a soft moan and moves her hand up to cup Vanessa’s face, tugging her closer while sucking on Vanessa’s lower lip that’s firmly in between her own. She slowly swipes her tongue over her lip and smiles when she feels Vanessa moan.

They pull back for a moment, before leaning back in again and tilting their heads a little. With the new angle, the kiss slowly deepens. Butterflies flutter around in their stomachs again while their heartbeats fasten and sync up. 

After a moment they both slowly pull back and simply gaze at each other. Charity leans in to place a quick peck on Vanessa’s lips before leaning back and lying down on her pillow again.

Smiles cover their faces. They’re both giddy from excitement, but all too quickly a feeling of uncertainty takes over. 

Vanessa lies down on her pillow as well and they both get lost in their thoughts.

After a moment’s hesitation, and mostly some contemplation, it’s Charity who eventually poses the question—even if she isn’t quite ready for the answer. “So, what does this mean? For… for us?”

Vanessa takes a moment to get her thoughts in order and to figure out how to say what she wants to say. What she _needs_ to say. 

“I…” she starts and closes her eyes for a moment before opening them again and turning her head to look at Charity. She waits until Charity looks back at her before speaking again. 

“I, I still love you, Charity. That has never changed.” 

Charity smiles at that and Vanessa can’t help but smile back. Especially when Charity says the next couple words. 

“I love you too, Ness. Always have, and always will.”

They stare at each other for a moment, soft smiles still adorning their faces. But then, Vanessa’s smile drops and her face turns serious. “I really want to give us another go. Being away from you showed me that I can’t live without you. But…”

Vanessa takes a deep breath, trying to find a way on how to convey this next important bit that she needs to share. 

Charity can feel her heart start to pound in her chest as she waits for Vanessa to start speaking again.

“Breaking up, that was… I never thought we’d ever break up. But things just got so difficult, and _painful_ , even. All we were doing was hurting each other, and I couldn’t live like that, Charity.”

“I know.” Charity looks away for a moment before locking eyes with Vanessa again. “I’m really sorry about everything that happened. I shouldn't have let it get that far.”

Vanessa shakes her head and turns on her side. She reaches out to stroke Charity’s cheek. “You weren’t the only one at fault. I’m really sorry too.”

They share a sorrowful look as they both think back at all the arguing they did. All the hurt and pain they had caused each other. The pushing of each other’s buttons, the pulling away when all they really needed to do was to sit down and talk to one another. 

Eventually, Vanessa speaks up again. “Like I said, I really want to try again. But what happened, can’t happen again. My heart can’t take it.”

“Mine can’t either, babe.” Charity takes a breath. “My heart broke into a million pieces when you told me you couldn’t do it anymore. When you… left. And while I’d expected it at some level, it also came as a total surprise. I mean, we were so good together. But, then I had to go and—”

“ _We_ ,” Vanessa interrupts, before Charity starts beating herself up, again. “I played a part too.”

Charity rolls her eyes but lets out a chuckle nonetheless. “Alright, _we_ both screwed it all up. I promise you though…”

A serious and sincere look is sent Vanessa’s way as Charity makes and holds eye-contact with her. “I promise to never take you for granted again. I promise to do better. To actually talk to you when I feel a certain way.”

Vanessa sends her a soft smile. “That’s all I ever wanted you to do. To just talk to me.”

“I know, I know.” Charity nods her head, before letting out a deep sigh. “Never really had someone in my life who ever listened though… I just didn’t know how to, you know, say things. How to speak up like that. I wasn’t used to people actually caring about me. Not until you.”

They share another look with each other. 

Vanessa had been the first person who had made Charity feel like a real human being. Who treated her like someone with actual feelings. Who didn’t just take her at face value. Who didn’t take her as whatever persona she’d put on that day, or that moment. 

Vanessa was the only one who truly saw her. And Charity just wasn’t used to people _seeing her_ . Or wanting to actually listen to her. It was a big adjustment. Her faith in herself, well, that had always been an issue, and had been the cause of the majority of her—and eventually _their_ —problems.

It took Vanessa leaving to see what the woman had done for her. How she had changed her life. And how she had made Charity realise that she wanted and needed to change how she behaved. Because it all started with herself.

_Healing from the inside out,_ as Vanessa had once told her.

Charity shakes her head a little to clear her thoughts and takes a deep breath. “I really want to be with you. So, whatever it takes, I’ll do it. I need you in my life.”

“And I need you in mine.”

They stare lovingly at each other for a moment. There seems to be a lighter feeling all around, now that they’ve finally spoken these words out loud. A lot still needs to be talked about, but for now, they’re good. 

They know where the other stands. And that is that they both want to give them, their relationship, another shot. 

While Charity starts to get comfortable again—the exhaustion of working all day yesterday, and the emotions currently coursing through her body making her sleepy once more—Vanessa starts to talk out loud about possible ways to work out logistics if they were to start dating again. 

“So, we’d have to start off long-distance, if that’s what you want, of course. We can take it as slowly as you want. I could drive up here on the weekends I’m off. Or you could drive up to London with Moses, and Noah, if he’s not at Uni. Oh, the boys! What do we tell them?”

Charity lets out a groan and peers over at the clock. Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “Babe, I love you, and I love that you want to plan everything right now, but… It’s still daft o’clock and I’m too exhausted to think about logistics. It’s a miracle I even made it through the other talk.”

Vanessa playfully slaps Charity’s shoulder. “You’re such a drama queen.”

Charity simply ignores her and tugs at the duvet.

Vanessa opens her mouth to add more but a yawn comes out instead. Rolling her eyes at Charity’s pointed look, she sighs and lies down next to her. “Alright, fine. I’m quite tired myself too. But we do need to figure out how to tell the boys and when and—”

“Shh.” Charity places a finger against Vanessa’s lips to silence her. “We’ll figure it out, _later_. Come on, sleepy time.”

“Sleepy time?” Vanessa raises an eyebrow this time while snuggling into Charity’s side. 

“I said shh.” 

Charity closes her eyes as she tightens her hold on Vanessa. She can already feel herself start to drift off. Vanessa lets out a chuckle and places a kiss against her collarbone before placing her head on Charity’s pillow and closing her eyes. 

Even though she knew that Charity was telling the truth about being exhausted, Vanessa also knows that Charity had never really been great at speaking about future plans. And though she could’ve easily called her out on it, she decided not to.

She wiggles a little to get more comfortable and soon after finding the right position, she falls asleep as well.

XOX

The second time they wake up, it’s because two very excited eight-year-olds sneak into their bedroom and start to jump on the bed where they’d been so peacefully sleeping. 

“No, no, no…” Charity whines. She picks up her pillow and covers her head with it. 

Vanessa is startled and confused by the sudden intrusion and it takes her a moment to figure out where she is and why there are two bodies bouncing on the bed. 

“Mummy! Ness! Wake up!” Moses screeches out and Vanessa winces at the volume. 

“Moz... Can you please tone it down a little?” she asks him and after a beat, Moses nods his head. There’s a grin on his face as he stares down at her. 

Johnny crawls over his mum’s legs and then on top of Charity. Lying down, he places his head on her shoulder and wraps his arms around her body, for as much as he can in the sideways position Charity is currently in. 

Charity’s smile is hidden by the pillow but she turns a little and wraps her arm around the body that’s now half on top of hers. She pulls Johnny closer into her and lets out a happy sigh.

After having stared at Vanessa for a moment, to make sure she was really still here, Moses plops down in between her and his mum. The grin is still firmly on his face as he says, “I’m so happy you’re here.”

Vanessa can’t help but mirror his grin, a contented feeling washing over her. “I’m happy too.”

She sits up a little and opens her arms. “Can I have a morning cuddle?”

Moses starts to laugh, which causes Vanessa to frown. 

“It’s not morning anymore,” he informs them. That catches Charity’s attention.

She lifts the pillow off of her head, being mindful of Johnny, and looks over at her nightstand to gaze at the clock. 12.16. _Oh, they actually slept through the morning..._

Vanessa purses her lips and tilts her head, arms still held open. “Well, can I get some _afternoon_ cuddles then?”

Moses nods his head and quickly moves forward, almost knocking her right over. She wraps her arms around him and lies back down. She leans her head against his and can’t help but smell his hair. 

It still smells like the same shampoo he used back then. It smells, maybe weirdly, like home to her. Vanessa places a kiss against his head and the four of them simply stay in their little bubble for a few moments longer. 

They’d both missed cuddling with the boys like this. It used to be part of their routine on Saturday mornings when neither Vanessa nor Charity had to get up early for work or the drayman. 

The sound of footsteps approaching their room makes Charity finally pull the pillow away completely. She places it back behind her again before lying her head down and helping Johnny get more settled on top of her. 

A moment later, a pajama-clad Noah appears in the doorway. He shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “I shoulda known.”

Vanessa and Charity exchange a knowing look before looking back at Noah again. It’s Vanessa who speaks up. “You wanna cuddle too?”

Noah stays quiet for a moment, his face portraying no emotion, until eventually he starts to grin. “Of course.”

He quickly starts moving towards them, his arms open wide and letting out a loud _‘aahhh’_ as he gets closer. The boys start to giggle while Charity tries to prepare for impact. 

Noah crashes down on the end of the bed with his knees, before crawling up higher. He’s still making noises as he wraps his arms around both boys, before face-planting just in between Charity and Vanessa, successfully jolting everyone on the bed.

Charity lets out a groan. “Oi! Watch the goodies.”

Noah turns his head and stares at her. “There are no goodies to watch.”

Charity gapes at him while Vanessa lets out a laugh. Noah busies himself with tickling the boys while Charity sends Vanessa a look, eyes narrowed. 

“Can you believe that boy?”

“He’s got a point.” 

“I... you... Wow.” Charity simply stares at the four people in her bed. “Okay, everyone out.”

Moses and Johnny shake their heads while Noah and Vanessa exchange a look. Charity doesn’t like what that look entails. And she quickly finds out she’s right to be wary. 

“Tickle attack!” Vanessa and Noah exclaim at the same time.

The boys’ eyes widen and they quickly move in and start to tickle Charity. Noah and Vanessa quickly join in and soon everyone is tickling whomever they can get their hands on. 

Laughter and excited squeals fill the air until someone exclaims a ‘seize all’. They all lie down together, comfortable and relaxed in a way that they haven’t been in some time. 

XOX

Having enjoyed another half hour of contented quietness, stomachs eventually start to rumble. While Moses starts to explain to Johnny and Vanessa that on New Year’s Day they wear their pajamas _all day long_ , Charity and Noah make their way downstairs to get started on lunch. 

Charity immediately goes over to the refrigerator while Noah starts pulling out plates and glasses to set on the table. Once Vanessa joins Charity in the kitchen, Noah leaves them to it and decides to entertain the two boys until the food is ready. 

It’s so easy, the way they just fall right back into their old routines. Vanessa and Charity work together in sync with only the occasional question of where a certain item is, or a joke that Charity can’t resist making with Vanessa quipping a joke right back.

Noah quietly takes notice of their interactions while he keeps the boys entertained with a quick game on the PlayStation. It’s exactly like how they used to behave, right down to the secret-but-totally-not-so-secret glances, the loving smiles, and the touches that his mum is still awful at being discreet about.

When lunch is finally ready, they all gather around the table. Noah can’t help but observe the easy smiles on their faces. 

And though he’d seen them interact like this—all soft, loving, and playful—a lot too last night, there was something different about it today. They somehow seem lighter, like a weight has been lifted. Like the underlying tension from what had happened those years ago is finally gone. 

Noah hopes he’s seeing things right. He really hopes they talked and sorted things out. His mum deserves to be happy again, and he knows that only Vanessa—and of course he and his brothers—could make her truly happy. 

He continues to quietly observe them while he enjoys his food, and decides that he’ll ask them about it later.

XOX

Just after they finished lunch, Felix had made a sudden appearance again, which startled all of them and ended with Charity scowling at the feline as he accidentally knocked over a half-full glass of milk. 

Her scowl had quickly disappeared though when Felix started leaning against her and started begging for pets—which he of course got. It was pretty amusing to Vanessa, watching Charity be so taken by an animal. 

Charity could hide it all she wanted, but Vanessa had always known that there was an animal lover behind the snarky comments Charity always made when visiting her at the clinic. 

After all, she had seen her cuddling with Monty often enough at Wishing Well. She’d even seen her cradle and talk to a chicken after it had escaped through a hole in the fence once—something Charity had immediately denied doing after Vanessa had brought it up sometime later that same day.

And she’d also seen through Charity’s angry telling off yesterday, because even though she had been mad at Tyson for destroying Moses’ Dino, she’d still made sure he had something to eat and play with in his crate.

This thought, especially considering their talk earlier, brought Vanessa some sort of relief; she can still read Charity like a book. She’d been afraid that after some time apart it would have been difficult, but yesterday and today are proving her wrong in the best way possible.

After having watched Felix follow Charity around everywhere she went, and seeing _the_ Charity Dingle actually _coo_ at him, Vanessa couldn’t help but make a comment about Charity being a closet animal lover. Charity being Charity in turn couldn’t help but immediately make a very inappropriate joke about what kind of ‘animal’ she _really_ loved.

It took everything in Vanessa not to swipe at her with a tea towel. 

XOX

While the boys are currently watching some cartoon on TV that Vanessa’s never even heard of, she and Charity quietly do the dishes. Felix had sat on the counter next to Charity until he noticed she wouldn’t give him any pets and had sauntered off to join the boys on the couch instead—where he _did_ receive all the pets he so craved.

Noah is once again glancing over at his mum and Vanessa from his relaxed position in the armchair. They’re both working together like a well-oiled machine. Vanessa washes, Charity dries. It’s simple.

They’re once again sharing an inside joke of sorts and smiling lovingly at each other. Noah can’t help but smile too. His mum looks so happy. Happier than he has seen her in a long time.

After Vanessa and Johnny had left, he’d watched his mum spiral again. Watched her go back to that dark place that she’d only barely crawled out of with Vanessa’s help. She’d started drinking again, causing trouble, picking fights.

But after hitting an ever lower point—one could call it ‘hitting rock bottom’—after probably the biggest argument he had ever had with her, she’d realised she needed to change and had slowly started crawling out of it again. All by herself. 

She’d even sought out help for the first couple months to help sort out herself and then to fix their relationship. 

Noah had been, and still is, very proud of everything his mum has accomplished in the past few years. She started taking better care of herself; first body, then mind, and eventually soul. She started taking better care of him and his brother. Started spending more one-on-one time with him and Moses. Made promises and actually kept them. 

He watched her change, this time for the better. He watched her try; try to open up to him, about her feelings and showing emotions that he’d never ever expected his mum to share with anyone. At least, not with anyone who wasn’t Vanessa. 

His relationship with his mum has grown in ways he could’ve never imagined. The Noah from a few years ago would have never ever shared his interests or his feelings or talked about his crush with her. That Noah would’ve kept everything to himself and simply watched his mum drown her sorrows.

But he hadn’t. And his mum hadn’t let herself go down that path again either. 

Noah wanted to show his appreciation. He wanted to thank her. But he had no idea how. Nothing he had come up with had been big enough or good enough, or just simply _right_ enough. That was until the failed Christmas meet-up with Vanessa and Johnny. 

Watching her be so excited and anxious, and then so disappointed, had given him the best idea ever to surprise her. So he’d put his plan in motion—with a secret underlying hope that maybe once his mum and Vanessa had seen each other again, they’d actually talk and maybe make his family whole again. 

His mum, Moses and him, Vanessa and Johnny. All together again. It was all he had ever wanted.

He knows they still love each other. If only they had the guts to tell each other. 

It’s that thought that leads Noah into action. He looks over at the boys, who are thankfully still immersed in whatever creepy cartoon show they’re watching. He stands up and makes his way over towards the dining table where his mum and Vanessa are talking over a cup of tea. 

“Hey, Noah. Want a cuppa?” Vanessa asks him as he shuffles his way onto a chair at the table. 

Noah shakes his head. “No, ta.”

He doesn’t say anything. He hadn’t actually thought about what he’d say to them. And now his mum and Vanessa are staring at him with smiles on their faces that slowly morph into concerned looks the longer he stays quiet. 

“Are you okay, babe?” Charity asks him. 

He decides to just blurt the question out. “Did you… Did you two finally figure things out?” 

Charity and Vanessa share a confused look. 

“What things?” Vanessa asks. 

Noah starts nervously playing with his fingers on top of the table. His nervous tell immediately grabs Vanessa’s attention and she can’t help but smile. _More like his mum than he probably realises._

“Well, I mean…” He scratches his forehead. “I hadn’t really thought this part through.”

That gets Charity’s attention. “Think what through?”

She tilts her head as Noah’s cheeks start to heat up a little. “Noah… What’s going on?”

He mulls things over in his head for a moment before sighing and deciding to just spill it out. He tells them about why he wanted to surprise his mum, that he wanted to make a big thing out of thanking her for turning her life around. 

Charity is a little shocked at hearing him say all these things about her, and about _why_ he did this for her. Noah looks up at her and when he notices the tears in her eyes he quickly continues with how he knew that Moses and Johnny would love to see each other as well. 

And that _he_ had really wanted to see ‘Ness’ again too.

Vanessa and Charity exchange a look with one another; just a simple and gentle smile. 

Noah then quickly adds—in a rushed mumble that Charity and Vanessa wouldn’t have understood if they hadn’t been so focused on his every word—that he’d also kind of hoped that they would get back together. 

Charity and Vanessa’s eyes widen a little at that, but again, Noah nervously rambles on—another habit he shares with his mum. 

“I mean, you both still love each other. Mum never shuts up about you, Ness,” he states as he looks at Vanessa before turning to his mum. “And Ness constantly asks about you when we text or call. Always wanting to make sure you’re okay, willing to help if need be. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

Charity and Vanessa look at each other yet again. Their hearts are pounding in their chests. They’re surprised, but mostly they’re relieved and are starting to feel a little excited because it’s clear that Noah wouldn’t mind them being back together again.

That thought is confirmed in the next jumble of words tumbling from Noah’s mouth. 

“You even behave like you did back then. Those love-sick faces you get when you so much as look at the other. Which is kinda gross sometimes, you know. You just… you look happier than you’ve looked in years, and I’m sure that goes for you too, Ness. I just…” Noah takes a breath. “All I ever wanted was a family. And _we_ had that.”

Noah stares down at the table in front of him for a moment while Vanessa and Charity both silently take in everything Noah has just told them. Charity is reminded of a younger Noah in that moment.

“I want you to be happy, mum.” He looks at his mum. He waits a moment and then turns to look at Vanessa. “And I want you to be happy too."

He then looks down at his hands again. "You two have made each other happy before and I know you can make each other happy again. And if _you’re_ happy, then I’m happy.”

Noah suddenly frowns. “I need to stop using the word ‘happy.”

They share a laugh and then Charity reaches out to grab Noah’s hands. “I love you, so much, Noah. I need to thank you too, for everything you’ve done for me. For giving me a second chance.”

Noah opens his mouth to protest but Charity shushes him. 

“Now…” Charity clears her throat and looks at Vanessa, who is trying her hardest to not cry but failing when one tear slowly slides down her cheek. Vanessa nods her head and Charity continues. “Since we’re talking about second chances…”

Charity tells him about the things Vanessa and her had talked about earlier that morning. That they’ve talked a little about what happened, about how they indeed do still love one another and that they want to give their relationship another try. 

However, they do need to figure some things out. But that could and would all be discussed another time. Today is the start of something new, and they want to make the most of the time Vanessa and Johnny have before they have to go back to London again. 

Noah’s smile grows the more they say and he stands up to hug both of them after promising that they will work things out between them.

XOX

Soon after they’d finished their talk, and before they’d even had a chance to clean up their snotty and tear-stained faces, Tracy had barged into the house. She apparently had the hangover from hell and required Charity’s emergency hangover remedy. 

Vanessa had raised her eyebrow at the declaration. Her eyebrow had risen even higher when Charity stood up immediately to get this ‘cure’ made. She had no idea that her sister and Charity had become so close. 

Watching them interact, and seeing Johnny go from cuddling Charity to cuddling Tracy, warmed her heart. Throughout last night and especially in that moment, it felt like little pieces of a puzzle were finally falling back into place. 

She’d looked over at Noah and pulled him into a tight hug. All she said was _‘Thank you’_ , but Noah knew exactly what she’d meant. This visit had been more than what she’d needed. And it had been more than what Vanessa could have ever wished for. 

Things were looking up again. She and Charity finally knew where they stood with each other now. They’d talked again while the kids and Tracy had been distracted and had started to make a few future plans. 

For the rest of the day, the little family played games, from card and board games to video games on the PlayStation. They ate together, joked around and simply enjoyed being together, until Vanessa and Johnny regretfully had to leave again.

Only this time, there would be no final goodbye. There wouldn't even be a goodbye at all. Instead there would be a _‘See you later’_ and a _‘Text me when you’re home’_. 

There would be hugs, and laughter, and smiles and promises. And maybe there would also be a cheeky-but-not-so-cheeky kiss. 

XOX

As they watch Vanessa drive off, Noah looks up at the people around him. Moses is enthusiastically waving and jumping up and down. Tracy is grinning like the Joker again, so he guesses she’s just really happy. 

And his mum… She’s glowing. It’s the only way to describe it. Her body language is relaxed, and her eyes look brighter than he has seen them before. She’s happy. She’s… content. 

He smiles to himself as a thought pops up. His plan worked, better even than he thought it would and he’s pretty chuffed. Things are almost back to how they should be again.

Noah takes out his phone and pulls up his contact list. Scrolling down to the letter V, he selects Vanessa’s name and changes it, before leading the three others back inside. 

‘Contact name changed to _Mum Ness (ICE)’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ICE stands for In Case Of Emergency
> 
> I'd advice you to pick one or two contacts in your phone list and add it to their name(s). If you ever find yourself in an emergency, and you are unable to speak etc., the authorities will know who to contact
> 
> This has been your PSA for the day

**Author's Note:**

> Just a general note I wanted to add (cos I struggle with it too):
> 
> Commenting is not for all, so don't feel forced to do it. If you do wanna leave a comment but aren't sure what to say, you can share a favourite line, paragraph, moment. Something that made you laugh or cry or made you feel any kind of way. Or something that makes you think of something that happened in your own life - but only if you want to share it.  
> You can also throw out some speculations or ideas where you think the story is going, most writers appreciate it (unless stated otherwise).
> 
> You can say a simple 'Thank you' or just drop a load of emojis :D :) 
> 
> Any comment - that's respectful - is welcomed.


End file.
